Pokemon: The Untold Story of Arc
by Scriffignano
Summary: Follow a trainer named Arc as he discovers the world of Pokemon as one of the trainers that left Pallet Town. With his partners Neeko and Snow Storm Arc will discover his true calling in life.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello all! This is the first story I have ever written and I hope its a big success. Please feel free to write a review on whatever I already have on the site. Any help would be most appreciated. ~Scriffignano~**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.**

Welcome to the world of Pokémon! Unlike the animals we all know, Pokémon are mysterious beings full of light and power. Some have control over the elements while others have amazing strength. Many people like yourself go out to befriend, catch, and train these Pokémon to battle, be your friends and companions, and create a bond with.

This story will follow a young trainer named Arc from Pallet Town. As a young child he was absolutely terrified of Pokémon and wanted nothing to do with them. In his mind Pokémon were imperfect beings that were unpredictable at best. His Mother, Cleo and Father, Duke were both avid Pokémon trainers and they began to worry that Arc would become reclusive and unsocial.

That all changed when Arc was riding his bike home from school on a particularly windy winter evening. A gusty rogue wind jostled Arc and sent him and his bike flying into the air. As he screamed in terror, he noticed a small green object flying past him. After focusing for a few seconds, he realized that the green object was none other than a small Caterpie that was torn out of a nearby tree by the wind. Without even thinking, he grabbed the little Caterpie and held it close, telling it that everything will be alright. Arc then landed with a solid thud and blacked out.

When he woke up, he was in the same field that he landed in and the little Caterpie was lying not too far from him. As he looked the little bug over, he found no sign of injury and decided to hide it in a nearby tree so it could recover. Over the course of the next several months, he would visit that field after school and spend time with the Caterpie. He eventually got over his fear of Pokémon, and decided that he would go on a journey just like his mother and father did before him…

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: Choices<strong>

It was 7 AM and Arc was getting ready for the most exciting day ever. He was preparing to go to Professor Oak's lab and start his Pokémon journey. Arc is young man who wears a white Pokémon League polo, blue jeans, brown shoes, and he always carried a purple single strap backpack. The most prominent thing about Arc was his hair which was half red and half yellow with a spike on each side and an electrical arc jumping between them.

"Honey it's time to get ready! Professor Oak is waiting at the lab for you!" his mother yelled upstairs.

Arc gathered up the remainder of his things and put them in his pack before tearing down the stairs. Lost in thought, he crashes into his father, Duke and tumbled down the rest of the stairs.

"Arc, are you alright? What happened?" His mother asked running up to Arc.

She looked Arc over as he laid there on his back. Confused and disoriented, he shakes his head trying to stand up.

Yeah I'm fine Mom. Is breakfast ready yet?" Arc asked rubbing his head.

"Yes. It's waiting in the kitchen for you." His mother replied.

Arc went to the kitchen to eat when his father came in. He went over to Arc and sat down at the table and started to read the paper. They sat there for a few minutes when his father decided to break the silence.

"So. What were you thinking about when you crashed into me?" His father asked with a hint of sarcasm.

"I was thinking about which Pokémon to start with" Arc replied with his mouth full.

"Did you decide yet?" His father asked.

"Not yet. I'm not really worried about who I choose anyways. I can work with any of them as long as I see them as a friend and not a tool. The important part is building a bond with your Pokémon." Arc pointed out.

"Good point." His father replied nodding in agreement

"Hey, when you finish at the lab, make sure you stop back home alright?" his father said.

"No problem. I had every intention of doing that anyways. I have a feeling you want to see who I chose as my starter right?" Arc asked.

"Well… That's part of the reason." his father replied looking at the Sports section of the paper.

Confused, Arc started nagging his father for answers, but he ignored Arc telling him he's going to have to wait until he gets back. Unable to get any response he started poking his father trying to break his silence.

"Finish your breakfast." His father said ignoring Arc's antics.

Arc sat quietly after that eating his breakfast when the clock caught his attention.

"YIKES! I'm going to be late!" Arc yelped running for the stairs.

He left about five minutes later tearing out of the house at full speed. He made it about half way when he swore to himself realizing that he left his backpack at home. He wasn't going to turn around now however because he was already late. Arc arrived at the lab in no time flat since his house is only a few blocks away and it's a straight shot there. Upon entering, he found Professor Oak working on some sort of device.

"I figured you would be the next one to show up." said Professor Oak without giving a backwards glance.

Arc walked up to him rather perplexed. He knew that Professor Oak knew a lot and could often make good guesses, but this surprised him.

"What do you mean you figured I would be next to show up." said Arc puzzled by Professor Oak's statement.

Professor Oak smirked and turned around to face Arc. He explained that since the first trainer has already come and gone, he figured that either Ash was going to show up or he was since they are the only ones left besides Gary who are eligible to get Pokémon. He then handed Arc the small device he was tinkering with, explaining that it was a Pokedex.

"What's a Pokedex?" Arc asked.

"Well, it's a device that records Pokémon data, and whenever you encounter a Pokémon, the Pokedex records information about it. Once captured, the Pokedex gives additional information on that Pokémon. Didn't they teach you about these things in school?" Professor Oak said.

"They taught us a lot of things in school Professor Oak. Sorry if I can't remember everything." Arc retorted. "By the way. What starters are still here since the first trainer has already left. I really want to get to know my Pokémon as soon as possible".

Professor Oak led him over to a table with two red and white spheres.

"There is Charmander and Squirtle left, so take your pick." Professor Oak replied.

Arc stared at them for a while unsure of which one to pick. At home it was easy to say any of them would work, but now that he was in the spot light the decision was a bit more difficult. Going back and forth, he was about to make a decision when a third Pokeball caught his attention across the room. It had a lightning bolt painted on it and it was in a glass case. Interested, Arc asked about the strange Pokeball. Professor Oak replied that there was a very spirited Pikachu in there that he was going to do research with. Arc was intrigued and thought about asking to see if he could get the Pikachu for his starter, but he quickly discarded the idea because Professor Oak already stated that these were the starters left.

"I am going to go with Charmander." Arc announced as he picked up the shiny Pokeball.

"Good choice. I remember when I was young and I had my Charmander." Prof. Oak said nostalgically.

"You had one as well?" Arc looked surprised by the professor's comment.

"Yes I did, he was a spirited one as well. Didn't really calm down until he evolved." Prof. Oak said scratching his head.

Professor Oak walked to a nearby cabinet and started rummaging through it muttering to himself. Once he finished he handed Arc a handful of Pokeballs. He then proceeded to sit down and grab a cup of coffee.

"What do you want me to do with these?" said Arc quizzically staring at the Pokeballs that Professor Oak handed him.

Sitting there with his coffee, Professor Oak looked at Arc as if he was a complete idiot.

"Well if you want to go out there and catch new Pokémon, you are going to need Pokeballs." Professor Oak said wisely.

Arc noticed the Pokeballs were smaller than his Charmander's and proceeded to ask Oak why that was. Professor Oak claimed that they were smaller because they are then easier to carry. He then explained that on the back of each Pokeball was a hook that you could use to attach the Pokeball to a belt or jacket. Arc proceeded to attach the Pokeballs to his belt and much to his excitement he couldn't even tell they were there because of how light they were.

Thanking Professor Oak for all his help, Arc said his good byes and headed back home to see his parents. Arc trotted home quickly and upon his arrival he saw his mom and dad sitting on the front porch talking with Mrs. Ketchum. Cleo nudged Duke and pointed in Arc's direction showing that he was home.

"So… How did it go at Professor Oak's Lab? "His father asked as Arc approached the stairs.

"It went well Dad. I chose my first Pokémon, and Professor Oak gave me a Pokedex." Arc said pulling the little red device out of his pocket.

"Well are going to keep us in suspense? Who did you pick as your partner?" His mother exclaimed standing up waving her arms crazily.

Arc pulled the first Pokeball off his belt and tossed it. In a flash of light Arc's Charmander appeared in front of the whole group, posing to show off his looks. His mother and father then looked at each other and smiled.

"I told you he would pick Charmander." His father said with a smug look on his face.

"No you didn't… You said he would pick Bulbasaur." His mother retorted putting her hands on her hips.

All of a sudden Mrs. Ketchum jumped up and screamed "I got to go! My son is getting his first Pokémon today as well!" and she took off in a mad dash to the lab.

Chuckling, Arc called back Charmander and asked his parents what he should do now that he has a Pokémon.

"I never thought about what I should do next. Is it possible to go out and explore Kanto? Professor Oak did give me these extra Pokeballs, so I'm guessing I could go if I wanted to, and you gave me permission to go." Arc said with a hopeful tone.

"Of course you can go. It's a good way to learn, grow, and gain good experiences as a trainer. Why do you think we wanted you to come back home after visiting the lab in the first place" His father said.

Excited, Arc understood that his surprise from his parents was being allowed to go on a journey. He ran to his room and grabbed his backpack and ran back downstairs. In the process of getting down the stairs, he tripped and tumbled down them again.

"I really need to stop running in the house." Arc mumbled to himself rubbing his head.

Once he got himself up he went to his dad who was sitting in the dining room.

"Hey, I was wondering something… Do you want to have a battle with me before I leave? It will be a good way to test my progress." Arc asked.

"It's an excellent idea! It will be one on one and we can have it in the backyard battlefield." His father said grabbing a luxury ball out of a glass china cabinet that held all of their Pokémon.

Going out back, they took their respective places at opposite sides of the battlefield, Cleo stood at the half way mark on an elevated stand.

"I will judge the battle." His mother announced.

"Get ready Neeko this is our first battle together." shouted Arc as he sent out his Charmander which he decided to nickname Neeko.

Neeko turned around and gave Arc a nod. A worried look came across his face as he turned to face the battlefield. Concerned, Arc wondered why Neeko looked so afraid.

"Alright Rain, Battle Stations!" His father called and out on the field stood the very Swellow that his father used to train Police Pokémon.

"Just because I am new, don't take it easy on me!" Arc yelled to his dad

"Alright then son, whatever you say." His father responded.

Rain then charged forward as Duke called for a Wing Attack. Arc responded by commanding Neeko to use Ember. When he failed to respond, Arc watched in terror as Rain closed in with blinding speed. Wing Attack hit and sent Neeko flying clear across the field. Not knowing what happened, Arc struggled to get his bearings together.

"Arc, it is obvious that you have no clue to what you are doing!" His father shouted.

Arc looked back to his dad confused and slightly disheartened by his harsh words.

"Neeko apparently does not know Ember and he obviously does not trust you yet. By knowing your Pokémon's moves and abilities, you show a greater understanding and respect for them and in turn they will believe in you." His father continued to say.

Starting to understand what his dad meant, Arc pulled out his Pokedex and looked up Neeko's moves.

Within moments after reading, Arc yelled "Use Growl."

Leaping into action Neeko let loose a powerful Growl attack that left Rain shaking. Arc then had Neeko follow up with a Scratch attack. Neeko charged at Rain with blinding speed, but missed by a hair as he jumped out of the way. Rain then responded with Quick Attack, but he missed when Neeko dropped to the ground to dodge.

Neeko then jumped to his feet and used Scratch, but Rain moved with lightning speed staying just out of Neeko's reach. Moving without Arc's command, Neeko slammed his tail on the ground and launched himself into the air head-butting Rain in the gut. Dazed, he fell out of the sky huffing for air while Neeko prepared to launch another assault.

The two went back and forth firing one attack after another, but neither of them could get the upper hand. Then out of nowhere Rain was ordered to fire Hidden Power. Paralyzed by fear, Neeko was not able to get out of the way in time and was blasted at point blank range. The battlefield was then lost in a flash of light and smoke.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: First Steps**

The smoke clears and standing before them was Neeko encased in a block of ice in the middle of the field. Astounded by the tremendous power of Rain's Hidden Power, Arc ran to Neeko to see if he was okay. Cleo quickly ended the battle and ran inside to get a hair dryer to thaw out Neeko.

"Sorry about that Arc. I guess I got a little carried away in the heat of the battle." His father said apologetically.

"It's fine dad. It was a great learning experience for both Neeko and I. Besides I'm sure he will be fine once he is warmed up." Arc said assuring his dad.

About an hour later they got Neeko thawed out and warmed up. To Arc's surprise however, Neeko was behaving very attached to him. It was as if something in Neeko opened up during the battle.

"Well it seems that Neeko is starting to trust you." His mother remarked.

"Sometimes showing your Pokémon that you care about them during the heat of battle creates a strong bond between a trainer and Pokémon. Understanding this bond is pivotal in being a good trainer." His father added as he put Rain's Luxury ball back in the cabinet.

Acting like he actually understood what his parents meant by the bond between a trainer and Pokémon, Arc left home to start his journey. Heading down Route 1 to Viridian City Arc decided to take a quick detour and stop in the field that he used to go to after school. He proceeded to walk to the center of the field and made a loud whistling noise. Waiting patiently, he heard a small squeaking noise answer his call. Turning on a heel, he found a Caterpie standing at his feet looking at him with an excited expression. Arc then got down on his knees and gave the small Bug Pokémon a pat on the head.

"How are you doing today?" He asked.

Caterpie waved its arms in excitement and gave a series of small squeaks showing that she was doing well.

The two sat in the field for a while and had lunch together. After finishing, Arc got up to go wash his mess kit when one of his empty Pokeballs fell off of his belt and landed by Caterpie. Curious to what it was, she inched up to it and sniffed the device tentatively. Arc then explained what it was and why he had it. Once he told her that he was a Pokémon trainer Caterpie shrieked with excitement and did a series of small circles. Realizing that Caterpie wanted to go with him, Arc grabbed the Pokeball and ran to the opposite side of the field from her.

"Alright, you can come with me, but only if you can prove yourself in a battle!" Arc shouted.

Caterpie nodded in agreement and readied herself for battle. Arc sent out Neeko and called for a Scratch attack. Caterpie sprang into action and let loose an attack that looked like sticky string. Bewildered by what the move was Arc looked it up in his Pokedex.

"String Shot. A common move used by Bug types that slows your opponent's movements." the Pokedex projected.

String Shot hit its mark and Neeko was entangled in the stringy goo. While Neeko struggled to free himself, Caterpie used Tackle and knocked Neeko off his feet and on the ground. Completely immobilized, Neeko looked at Arc with desperate eyes waiting for his next move. Thinking quickly, Arc tried to come up with a few solutions when Neeko's tail caught his eye.

"Use your tail to cut the string and follow up with a Growl attack." Arc shouted.

Flicking his tail as fast as possible Neeko cut himself free and used Growl on Caterpie. Caterpie dodged and used String Shot again, but missed as well. Getting flustered Arc decided to end the battle even though he didn't land a single attack and threw an empty Pokeball.

The Pokeball hit Caterpie on the forehead and in a flash of red she disappeared into the Pokeball. Excited, Arc ran up to the Pokeball, but to his surprise the ball was shaking. Watching it intently the Pokeball rattled for a few more seconds and then stopped with a small flash.

Arc leaped into the air screaming "YES!" his excitement was uncontainable.

He caught his first Pokémon ever and was on his way to being a Pokémon trainer. Letting Caterpie back out of the Pokeball Arc stared at her intently. He wanted to give her a unique nick name, but he was completely stumped. He then remembered the events that brought him and the Caterpie together and an excellent named dawned upon him.

"I know! I will call you Snow Storm." Arc stated snapping his fingers.

Seeming pleased with that name, Snow Storm waved her little feet and squeaked loudly.

Arc was about to call her and Neeko back when she dodged the red return beam from the Pokeball. He tried again to return her to the Pokeball, but to no avail. Arc sighed and decided that since Snow Storm showed no interest going back into her Pokeball, he would keep them out of their Pokeballs as much as possible.

Arc was then back on the road to Viridian City. Snow Storm sat on his shoulder and Neeko was walking next to him taking in the scenery. Due to the fact that he was still new to traveling and they had to hide for a while from an angry flock of Spearow, the trio only made it half way to Viridian City by night fall. While he was busy getting camp set up it started raining, and Arc had to move quickly to set up a tarp so the trio didn't have to sit in the rain, and to make things difficult, Neeko cowered behind Arc for protection from the precipitating water. Arc tried his best to reassure them that there was nothing to worry about, but it wasn't much help when a large explosion of lightning and sparks lit up the sky. Awestruck by what happened, Arc decided it would be best to get some sleep and try not to freak out from the incident.

The following day they were back on the road still a bit shaken up by the explosion last night. Arc was deciding what his goal was going to be on his journey, when he was sidetracked by a passing trainer battle. The first trainer was a young lad that was using what seemed to be a purple rat. The other trainer had a small bird that was barely bigger than Snow Storm. Curious to what they were Arc pulled out his Pokedex and aimed it at the purple rat first.

"Rattata, the Mouse Pokémon. Rattata is cautious in the extreme. Even while it is asleep, it constantly listens by moving its ears around. It is not picky about where it lives and will make its nest anywhere." the device beeped.

"Pidgey, the Tiny Bird Pokémon. Pidgey is very docile and will kick up sand to protect itself rather than fight." the device beeped when Arc aimed it at the bird.

Arc stuck around while the two Pokémon battled it out. After another few minutes, the Pidgey collapsed from exhaustion and the battle was over. The two trainers then recalled their Pokémon made an exchange and the Pidgey's trainer left. Arc then walked up to the winning trainer with the intentions of asking for a battle.

"Nice battle there." Arc commented.

"Thanks, but that trainer was a piece of cake to beat." the young trainer said smugly.

Unhindered by the trainer's boastful sense of pride Arc proceeded to ask the trainer his name.

"The name's Joey. Do you want to have a battle with me?" Joey responded.

Arc was delighted that he asked since he intended on challenging the boastful trainer anyways and made his way to the opposite side of the clearing.

Staring down his opponent, Arc knew this trainer wasn't going to hold back or give him pointers like his dad did. He had to put in everything he had in order to beat this trainer. Joey threw a Pokeball and the Rattata he used before came out. Arc responded and sent Snow Storm into battle. Joey eyed up the Bug Pokémon and snickered as if she was a joke.

"This will be a one on one match. The battle is over when one of the Pokémon faints. You have the honors, and please try not to bore me." Joey shouted.

Getting slightly annoyed with Joey, Arc called for a Tackle attack. Snowstorm charged forward as fast as her little legs could carry her. Rattata easily jumped out of the way and delivered a nasty Bite attack to her midsection. Snow Storm squealed and tried to free herself from Rattata's grip.

"Snow Storm! Calm down and use String Shot to pull yourself out of Rattata's mouth." Arc said trying to keep himself from losing it.

She nodded and fired String Shot at a nearby tree and pulled with all of her might. Rattata refused to let go and went flying with Snow Storm right towards the tree. Desperate to shake Rattata off, Snow Storm readjusted her body position and swung around the tree instead of straight at it. As the two swung around the tree the string got shorter and shorter until the two crashed into the side of the tree. Rattata released his grip and fell over dazed from the hit.

"Tackle it Rattata!" Joey yelled stunned by what just happened.

Rattata got back up and shot forward to collide with Snow Storm, but she rolled out of the way and used Tackle herself. She hits her mark and sends Rattata flying into another tree.

"Use String Shot!" Arc shouted.

She responded and trapped Rattata up against the tree. With Rattata unable to move Snow Storm tackled it repeatedly with the intention of knocking it out cold. Joey stood their helplessly as his Rattata was being squished by the little bug

"That's enough! You win!" Joey said astonished by what just happened.

Arc agreed and was declared the winner. After congratulating Arc, Joey handed him a small sum of money.

"What's this for?" Arc asked.

"Usually when one trainer beats another trainer, the loser gives the winner a small reward for their victory." Joey sighed as he rolled his eyes.

Arc then pocketed the money, thanked Joey for an interesting battle and continued on his way. He moved quickly trying to put as much distance between him and the snobby brat as possible.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Viridian City**

Arc finally caught sight of Viridian City two days later completely exhausted from his travels. He got involved in several more battles after Joey, each one being tougher than the last and he ended up losing two of the matches. On top of all that, Snow Storm evolved into a Metapod while battling a wild Spearow, which was astounding to watch since Arc had never seen an evolution before.

It took him another hour of walking before he reached the city limits. Hungry and tired, he wandered around the city for a place to rest when a police officer caught his eye.

"Excuse me officer, is there a place in town I go rest my Pokémon and get a bite to eat?" Arc asked the officer.

"There is a Pokémon Center about four blocks from here where trainers and Pokémon can rest and relax. I suggest that when you get there you talk to Nurse Joy. She runs the center and will treat your Pokémon if they are sick or injured." The officer said.

He thanked the officer and made his way there.

"By the way the name's Officer Jenny. If you need anything else I will be at the precinct!" she shouted back to Arc.

Arc wandered in the direction of the Pokémon Center taking in all the sights that surrounded him. Being that he has never left Pallet Town or the surrounding forests until now, he was quite awestruck by all of the noise, flashing billboards, and tall buildings. He was so engrossed with taking in the scenery that he almost passed the Pokémon center up. He casually strolled in the center looking for whoever Nurse Joy was.

"It would've been nice of Officer Jenny to at least give me a description of who Nurse Joy was" Arc grumbled.

Asking one of the other trainers in the center, he found Nurse Joy sitting behind the front desk. Walking up to the counter, he asked her nicely if she would take a look at both Neeko and Snow Storm.

"Sure. I'll take good care of them. Please wait until they come back." Joy replied

Nurse Joy placed Snow Storm and Neeko on a gurney and a large pink egg shaped Pokémon rolled them away. Curious to what the Pokémon was he pulled out his Pokedex.

"Chansey, the Egg Pokémon. Chansey is a gentle and kind-hearted Pokémon that shares its nutritious eggs if it sees an injured Pokémon." the Pokedex beeped.

Arc then wandered around the Pokémon Center aimlessly, when another trainer caught his eye. Walking over to where the trainer was sitting, he asked him if there was anyone else sitting with him. The trainer shook his head signifying that there was no one currently sitting with him, he then made a motion inviting Arc to sit down.

After taking his seat, Arc then decided to strike up a conversation with a trainer by asking him what his name was.

"The name's Corey. What's yours?" he asked.

"The name's Arc. So what kind of Pokémon do you have?" he asked curious to find out more about the trainer.

Corey responded saying that he started out with a Bulbasaur about a year ago but now he had several Pokémon including Pidgeotto, Ryhorn, and Sandslash. Interested by who those Pokémon were Arc decided to pull out his Pokédex and looked each of the up. Corey then proceeded to ask Arc what kind of Pokémon he had. Arc responded by saying that he only had a Charmander and a Metapod for now. Corey inquired further, and when Arc told him that he was only a beginner trainer, Corey then understood why.

Their conversation lasted for about an hour or two when the intercom paged for Arc to come to the front desk. When he got there he saw that Chansey and Nurse Joy had returned with Neeko and Snow Storm. Neeko and Snow Storm were so excited to see Arc that they leaped into his arms nuzzling his face. Arc then thanked Nurse Joy for all of her help and proceeds to go to the Commons area to relax

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Arc left the Pokémon Center the following morning and decided to go exploring around the town since he was too tired to do it yesterday. While looking around he came across a big marble building that had a lot of statues around it and was adorned with designs around the base of the roof. While staring at the building a voice startled him.

"You do realize the Gym Leader is not here." said the voice.

He turned and there stood Officer Jenny. He stared at her with a confused expression.

"What is a Gym Leader?" Arc said looking confused.

"A Gym Leader is a person who is in charge of a Gym or battle facility. Trainers travel around Kanto collecting badges or awards from these Gyms in hopes of competing in the Pokémon League." Officer Jenny giggled.

Interested, Arc inquired further and asked how he signs up for the league.

"Follow me and I can show you where you can sign up." Officer Jenny continued making a motion to follow her.

The two ended up back at the Pokémon Center and Arc stared at Officer Jenny slack jawed.

"You could have just told me! I just left here a few hours ago!" Arc protested.

Arc thanked Officer Jenny anyways and strolled back inside. When he approached the counter, Arc asked Nurse Joy how he could register for the league. She asked him for his Pokedex telling him that it also serves as an ID in the Pokémon League. After Nurse Joy finished registering Arc for the Pokémon League she offered him a small case.

"What's the case for?" he asked quizzically.

"This case is for the badges that you earn in the Pokémon League. Each badge has a clip in the back as well so you can hook them to your jacket as well if you want." she replied.

Arc decided against the badge case knowing exactly where he was going to keep his badges. Excited, Arc left a day earlier than he was going to and was back on the road with Neeko hot on his heels. Snow Storm was having a hard time keeping up so Arc regrettably returned her to her Pokeball. Nurse Joy suggested that he headed to Pewter City if he was going to challenge the Pokémon League. So with the thought of winning gym badges in his mind, he decided that he might need another Pokémon.

"What type of Pokémon should I catch? Neither Nurse Joy or Officer Jenny told me what the Pewter Gym may be like." Arc thought to himself.

He traveled another fifteen miles or so before settling down for the evening. Arc was busy setting up the small gas stove when Neeko started crying for help. Running to Neeko, Arc found that Snow Storm started shaking violently on the ground. Terrified that she may be sick or hurt he dropped the frying pan he was holding and tried to restrain her as best as he could. Snow Storm was just about pinned down when she started to glow. He couldn't believe it, especially since Snow Storm just evolved into a Metapod a few days ago, but she was evolving again. Her shape rippled and dissolved in a blue and white aura. She grew taller and sprouted a pair of wings. The ghostly light dissipated and a beautiful butterfly-like Pokémon stood before him. Shocked, Arc pulled out his Pokedex and aimed it at Snow Storm.

"Butterfree, the Butterfly Pokémon. This Pokémon loves the taste of honey and migrates in large swarms every year when they find mates." The Pokedex beeped.

Arc was in awe of what just happened when a case of curiosity just hit him.

"Wait a minute. The Butterfree in the Pokedex has white and black wings. Why is Snow Storm's more of a cream color with black trim and red speckles?" Arc asked himself.

He decided to toss the thought to the side for now since Snow Storm's evolution gave Arc a sense of triumphant accomplishment. Furthermore he decided that he will not catch another Pokémon until he loses a Gym battle. His Pokémon are not tools, they are his friends and companions and he wants to give them the best care he possibly can.

"_Now I am starting to get what Dad meant by the bonds between trainer and Pokémon_" he thought to himself as he resumed preparing dinner.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: First Badge**

Arc reached Pewter City about three days after Snow Storm evolved and they went immediately to the gym. Luckily the trio didn't run across any trainers that wanted to battle, so Arc was feeling confident even though he didn't stop at the Pokémon Center. Making his way down the street, Arc spotted a building covered in boulders. A sign above him said Pewter City Gym. Upon entering he found himself standing in a very large room. The room was dark except for a single spot light shining on a man on the other side of the room.

The man raised his voice and shouted "Welcome traveler! My name is Brock and I am the Gym Leader her at the Pewter City Gym".

Arc greeted Brock and explained that he was looking to challenge the Pokémon League. Arc then proceeded to the opposite side of the arena and readied himself for whatever Brock threw at him.

"This will be a two vs two battle and only the challenger may substitute Pokémon" Brock explained.

"That's fine with me" Arc said.

With only a flick of Arc's wrist Neeko ran from his side and launched himself onto the battlefield. He showed a determination in his eye that Arc has never seen before. Brock eyed up Neeko with an indifferent stare.

"Didn't anyone tell you what type I specialized in?" Brock smirked.

Puzzled Arc shook his head and told him no. Brock did not respond, but threw a Pokeball. In a flash of light a small boulder looking Pokémon appeared on the field. Arc pulled out the Pokedex and identified it as the Rock type Pokémon Geodude.

"I specialize in Rock type Pokémon which Fire types like Charmander are weak against" Brock replied.

Completely unfazed by Brock's taunting remarks, Arc calls for a Scratch Attack. Neeko moved with blazing speed and hit Geodude in the face repeatedly. Arc looks on puzzled as Geodude just sits there taking the punishment. Neeko stopped attacking confused as to why it didn't move. Suddenly Geodude responded and used Tackle to send Neeko flying back. He hits the wall on the other side of the field and struggles to get to his feet wiping the dust from his eyes. Arc then calls for Ember. Neeko took a deep breath and released a ball of fiery embers. It hits Geodude between the eyes creating a flash of sparks and cinders. Geodude stared blankly coughing up smoke in a daze from the blast of embers.

Shaking the ash from face, Geodude started hurling rocks at Neeko. Neeko danced around the field with very ungraceful steps trying to dodge as best he could in hopes of not getting clobbered by the falling rocks. Unsure of what to do Arc stood there helplessly as Neeko got pummeled with rocks.

Suddenly a rather large rock got caught in Neeko's mouth and he couldn't get it out. Neeko thrashed wildly trying his best to remove the rock, but it wouldn't budge. Dumbfounded, Arc tried his best not to giggle at Neeko's predicament. Seeing that his own trainer wanted to laugh made Neeko rather upset. Seething with anger, smoke started trailing out of the corner of his mouth. Tickled by the smoke Neeko sneezed spewing the rock along with a plume of smoke.

Completely surrounded by the smoke, Neeko was completely hidden from Geodude's view. It stopped hurling rocks and looked around desperately trying to find Neeko. However, while Geodude and Brock kept searching for Neeko in the smoke, he had other ideas. He crept around the back of Arc and leaped into the air. Using his tail, Neeko clobbered Arc in the back of the head knocking him face first on the floor. Brock stood there rather confused as to what he saw.

"What happened to you, and why is your Charmander rolling on the floor laughing?" Brock asked.

Wiping his nose clean Arc told him it was nothing and called for rapid fire Ember attack. Still snickering, Neeko fired and severely seared Geodude knocking it out cold.

"Geodude is unable to battle, Charmander wins" the judge shouts from the side of the arena.

Both trainers called their Pokémon back giving them well deserved praise for their performance in the match.

"I am surprised that your Charmander did so well, but my next Pokémon is much stronger than my Geodude" Brock said.

He tossed his next Pokeball releasing a giant rock snake that towered over Arc.

"Onix the Rock Snake Pokémon. The boulders that make up this Pokémon's body get smoother as it ages" beeped the Pokedex as Arc aimed it.

Arc knew Neeko was hurting after getting smashed with rocks, so he kept him back and sent Snow Storm out. She fluttered around sizing up Brock's Onix.

"Use Rock Throw!" Brock shouted.

Onix swung its massive tail hurling rocks in Snow Storms direction. On command she flew around the rocks dodging them with only inches to spare. She then flapped her wings vigorously sprinkling Sleep Powder on Onix putting it to sleep. She then followed up with Confusion knocking the drowsy Onix against the wall. It then woke up seething with anger and used Screech attack. Not wasting any time Snow Storm used Confusion again to block it. The moves collided with a cloud of dust allowing Onix to sneak around behind Snow Storm. The dust cleared and Onix shot forward wrapping its giant tail around Snow Storm's foot. Without pausing for a breath it slammed Snow Storm face first into the ground. She laid there motionless as Onix dug underground. Realizing the danger, Snow Storm flew back into the air waiting for Onix to appear.

"Wait for it Snow Storm. Don't move until you know where it's at." Arc said trying to keep her calm.

Without warning Onix burst out of the ground with its mouth wide open. Knowing that it was going to try and bite Snow Storm, Arc made a hasty decision and called for String Shot. She fired and encased Onix's entire head blinding it completely. She followed with Confusion once more knocking Onix out cold.

"Onix is unable to battle! Butterfree wins and the victory goes to Arc the challenger!" the judge called waving his flag towards Arc.

He leaped in the air his excitement uncontainable. Brock approached congratulating Arc on his success.

"Your methods and choices were unorthodox, but very effective. Here is the Boulder Badge, its proof you won here at the Pewter City Gym. However in the future I suggest that you think more about your choices before challenging a Gym Leader. You got extremely lucky that your Butterfree dodged all of Onix's attacks." Brock replied handing Arc the badge.

Arc thanked Brock and left the gym with a grin on his face ignoring Brock's advice.

He made his way to the Pokémon Center to get his Pokémon treated for their injuries in the battle. He figured Snow Storm was fine since she was only slammed against the ground, but Neeko received quite the thrashing from Geodude. After Neeko and Snow Storm left with Nurse Joy, he decided to give his mother and father a call.

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><p><strong>Okay... I made a few minor changes to the chapter to make it more even and the battle a little tougher. I know that the battles seem easy right now, but its all going to build up over time. <strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Team Rocket**

"So I have one badge now" Arc said proudly.

"That's excellent sweetie. How is Neeko doing?" His mother asked looking for where he was.

"They're fine. Both Snow Storm and Neeko are being checked out by Nurse Joy" he replied trying to keep his distracted mother's attention on him.

"Who's Snow Storm? Did you manage to capture an Ice type Pokémon" His mother looked puzzled.

Arc smacked his forehead realizing that his mother had no clue who Snow Storm was. He then began to explain that after he left Pallet Town he stopped in a small field that he used to visit after school. While he was there he captured the Caterpie that he saw there frequently. His mother's eyes really brightened up when he told her about Snow Storm's capture. She was about to speak when he heard Nurse Joy over the intercom.

"Arc please head to the reception desk. Your Pokémon are ready for you." the intercom buzzed.

"Sorry mom, I need to go for now. I'll talk to you later."

His mother said her goodbyes and Arc hung up before going to get his Pokémon.

He walked over to Nurse Joy to get Neeko and Snow Storm thinking that everything was going to be fine. However, he yelped with surprise with what stood before him. Neeko wasn't a little lovable Charmander anymore, but a very strong and proud Charmeleon.

"What happened back there?" he asked.

"Well, he evolved. I was just looking over his injuries when it happened." Nurse Joy said with a sweet smile.

Arc went slack jaw by the fact that his Pokémon evolved while he wasn't there to witness it. Trying to hide his annoyance, Arc pulled out the Pokedex.

"Charmeleon, the Flame Pokémon. This fierce Pokémon swings its tail wildly to raise the air temperature around it" the Pokedex beeped.

Neeko jumped off the gurney where he was sitting and began to flex his muscles showing how powerful he has become now that he evolved.

Arc thanked Nurse Joy waving goodbye and walked towards the door of the Pokémon Center. As he walked out the door he brushed up against another gentleman that was walking in. Turning to say apologize, he realized that this stranger wasn't even looking back at him. Confused by the stranger's lack of action or emotion, Arc took note that he was wearing a light blue bandanna, dark blue trench jacket, and gray pants. Shrugging his shoulders, Arc left without a second thought.

The trio moved at a brisk pace trying to reach Cerulean City as soon as possible. While they traveled, Arc reviewed his battle with Brock trying to learn new tactics in facing trainers. The main fact that he remembered was that he was at a type disadvantage the entire battle. Arc swore to himself because he wished that he never made that promise.

"Since I swore that I will not catch anymore Pokémon till I lose a gym battle, I need to come up with some strategies and moves to counter types that my Pokémon are weak against." Arc mumbled to himself.

He kept walking, noticing that the forest was almost too quiet. Arc started to look around, seeing if he could even see any Pokémon in the area, but when the ground shook below him, he got very suspicious. He turned to looked at Neeko when the ground caved in and before he could even squeak, Arc and Neeko were at the bottom of a hole laying on their backs. Snow Storm looked at them very confused making a motion for them to climb out. Arc stared at her slightly annoyed since she was giving them the "What are you doing down there" look.

"Hey Snow Storm! Stop looking at me like that use String Shot to make a ladder for us" Arc grumbled at her.

She complied and within a few minutes Arc and Neeko were out of the hole.

"What in the world is a hole doing here?" Arc asked quizzically.

Neeko shrugged and proceeded to use Ember to show his annoyance of the hole. Suddenly two voices started speaking with an eerie chill.

"Prepare for trouble... and make it double! To infect the world with devastation! To blight all people in every nation! To denounce the goodness of truth and love! To extend our wrath to the stars above! Cassidy! and Butch, of course! We're Team Rocket, circling Earth all day and night! Surrender to us now or you will surely lose the fight!" the voices said.

He turned to face where the voices were coming from confused. What he saw was a man and woman wearing funky black uniforms with a red "R" staring at him.

"What was that nonsense, and who are you guys?" he asked brushing dust from his shirt.

"We are the infamous Team Rocket, we steal Pokémon for profit, exploit Pokémon for profit, and all Pokémon exist for the glory of Team Rocket. Our ultimate goal is to take over the world using Pokémon." Cassidy said raising her voice.

Arc's eyes flared with anger hearing what the woman said. He clenched his fists ready for whatever the duo was about to throw at him.

"Pokémon are not tools for you creeps! They are our companions and friends. What do you guys want from me anyways?!" Arc shouted.

"We are here for that Butterfree. It's not every day you come across a Butterfree like that one." Butch said pointing at Snow Storm.

Snow Storm squeaked and took off to hide behind Arc's shoulder. Fear welled up in her eyes as she realized that Butch and Cassidy were after her.

"What's so special about her? She's special to me I know, but isn't she the same as most Butterfree"? Arc looked at Snow Storm and asked.

Butch and Cassidy laughed at Arc as if what he said was funny. Pulling out a Pokeball, Cassidy glared at Arc.

"Silly boy, your Butterfree isn't even from around here. That particular Butterfree is from the Orange Islands. It's exceedingly rare to find one around here in the middle of Kanto. Now enough of this idle chatter! Go Raticate!" Cassidy replied.

She threw a Pokeball releasing a rather large brown rat like Pokémon. Not even taking the time to look it up, Arc did the most important thing he could do as a trainer and he put himself between the Raticate and Snow Storm.

"Neeko! Use Ember now!" Arc shouted.

He charged at the Raticate spewing embers as he ran. Burned by the searing heat, Raticate jumped to the side and bit Neeko on the arm. He pried Raticate off with a smack of his tail and let out a very powerful blaze of fire. The fire circled Raticate, completely engulfing it in the inferno. Amazed by what just happened Arc pulled out the Pokedex.

"Fire Spin. By using powerful flames, the move blocks opponent from moving and then inflicts great damage" the Pokedex beeped.

"Well done! You just learned a new move!" Arc screamed to Neeko excited by what just happened.

Neeko turned and gave him a thumb's up . As he turned his attention back to Raticate, he prepared to launch another attack. Neeko then started taunting it with a flick of his tail. Infuriated by the gesture, Raticate attacked with Super Fang. It made several attempts to bite Neeko, but it wasn't as agile as he was.

"Raticate what's the matter with you! You should be tearing that Charmeleon to pieces!" Cassidy shouted getting impatient with the fight

"Now Neeko! Use Fire Spin one more time, surround Raticate so it can't move." Arc shouted.

Neeko tried, but he was too tired from dodging to use Fire Spin. Thinking fast, Arc sent Snow Storm into the battle and commanded her to use Sleep Powder. Spraying the golden dust everywhere she successfully knocked Raticate out cold. Infuriated, Cassidy took matters into her own hands. She pulled out an extendable net and started to swing at Snow Storm. She dodged gracefully flying just out of the net's reach.

"Snow Storm use String Shot" Arc reacting to Cassidy's attacks.

She responded and wrapped the trio in a bundle of threads. Neeko followed her with Ember charring the whole group. Completely dazed and covered in soot Cassidy and Butch took off in the other direction.

"We'll be back and next time that Butterfree will be ours!" Butch screams as he and Cassidy vanish over the horizon.

Arc however takes their warning with little care as he wipes the sweat from his brow. He never had a battle before against such thugs, but with Snow Storm now safely at his side, he knew it was all worth it to save her. She then fluttered front of him letting out cheerful sounding cries as if to say thank you.

Arc could only guess this is what his friend said to him because he didn't really understand Pokémon, but that didn't matter for with the battle over and Snow Storm safe, Arc set off with his friends by his side again ready to continue to Cerulean City.


	6. Chapter 6

**Okay Chapter 6 is now posted. I Now plan on doing Q/A sessions at the beginning of every new chapter. I will take questions from every chapter in the book, but I will only post questions that concern the previous chapter. Enjoy the chapter.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 6: All Washed Up<strong>

Hiding in the bushes, Arc moved as quietly as possible. He was still a little shaken from the incident with Team Rocket he had a few days ago that he was trying to stay off the main road as much as possible. Snow Storm scouted ahead looking for signs of Cerulean City. Neeko decided that enough was enough and came out of hiding walking on the road without a care in the world.

"Neeko! What in Arceus' name are you doing out there?! Get back over here!" Arc demanded making a motion for Neeko to come back over to where he was.

Neeko glared at Arc and blasted him with Ember showing that he has had enough. Arc sighed and came out of hiding as well realizing his friend was right and he was being more of a scaredy-cat than a Meowth in a pool. Arc called Snow Storm and the trio continued their journey on the road.

They reached Cerulean City later that day and Arc decided that he would wait till tomorrow to challenge the gym. He was way too tired to face the Gym Leader and Officer Jenny gave him one heck of a time at the precinct when he went to report Cassidy and Butch.

_Arc was at the police station trying to report Cassidy and Butch for attacking him and attempting to steal Snow Storm, but he wasn't having much success with it._

_"Can you describe your assailants to me please?" Officer Jenny asked._

_"I told you before their names were Butch and Cassidy. They both wore black uniforms with big red R's on them. Cassidy had long orange hair and butch had shorter green hair. Cassidy also had a Raticate," Arc snapped._

_"Lose the attitude young man. I am only asking what happened." She replied_

_Arc rolled his eyes. He had just explained this to another officer and the front desk. On top of that he had to wait for an hour because they were dealing with some kid that tried to make a break for it from the holding cells._

_"Alright… I guess I can explain the whole situation again." Arc said playing with the tips of his pronged hair._

He flopped on his bed that he got at the Pokémon Center and promptly fell asleep along with Neeko and Snow Storm. Neeko decided to sleep on the floor since he didn't want his tail flame waking Arc and Snow Storm slept on top of the dresser using her wings to cover her eyes. As Arc drifted into his wakeless dreams, he reflected on the last few days of his journey. He's seen things as only a trainer can see them. From watching his Pokémon grow, to winning his first badge, and even beating the snot out of some crooks had its own rewards. He was doing pretty well for himself as far as he was concerned.

The next day Arc was feeling rested, chipper, and excited to challenge the Cerulean Gym. He immediately made his way to the Gym after breakfast and strolled in the front door. When he entered the gym, what he saw before him left him completely speechless. There were three very beautiful girls working around the gym.

"Excuse me, do any of you ladies know where I can find the Gym Leader? I would like to challenge the Cerulean Gym." Arc said with a slightly choked voice.

"You are like looking right at them cutie" replied one of the girls.

Dumbfounded Arc realized that all three of the girls were gym leaders. He then asked if he was supposed to choose one or if they had some other way of doing this. Answering his question one of the girls approached and winked at him.

"So the name is Daisy and I will like be the one taking your challenge. My sister Violet will judge for us." Daisy said with a rather glamourous look on her face.

"Okay…" Arc blushed and gazed off not wanting Daisy to see his face.

The stage was set and both sides were ready to battle. Arc knew he was at a disadvantage again because he had nothing to combat Water type Pokémon. So he decided to go for broke and sent Neeko to battle first. Neeko nodded and made his way out to the floating platform to start the battle. Daisy giggled at Arc's choice and threw her Pokeball. What appeared from the Pokeball was a Pokémon that was completely unknown to Arc. It looked like a blue cat with fins all over its head and a fish tail.

"Vaporeon, the Bubble Jet Pokémon, and an evolved form of Eevee. The composition of its cells is similar to molecules of water, and as such, can melt in water." the Pokedex beeped.

Vaporeon stood on the opposing platform waving its tail, taunting Neeko. Bursting with anger Neeko attempted to taunt it back by flicking his tail, but to no avail. Vaporeon just stood there with a blank, but intense expression.

"Battle begin! Violet said standing on the judging platform.

Vaporeon jumped in the water, immediately using the field to its advantage. Neeko waited patiently for it to make a move. Silence prevailed over the field for several minutes until there was a ripple on the surface of the water. Spotting it immediately, Neeko fired an Ember attack at the ripples hoping to make contact with Vaporeon. Little to his knowledge, Vaporeon was on the other side of the platform lying in wait for him.

"Vaporeon like use Watergun!" Daisy shouted.

Moving gracefully it leaped out of the water firing at Neeko's back. Luckily for Arc, Neeko was fast enough to get out of the way before being way laid by Vaporeon's assault. Spinning on his heel, Neeko hit Vaporeon with a Scratch attack. Surprised by the counter attack, Vaporeon dove back into the water to try another sneak attack. Changing up the attack pattern Vaporeon started using Watergun while still submerged, forcing Neeko to the edge of the platform. Neeko dropped to his belly after getting hit several times, dodging the rest of the barrage.

Seeing that her plan wasn't working Daisy changed her tactics again.

"Now Vaporeon like tackle the platform or whatever!" Daisy shouted while looking in a mirror.

Vaporeon did as instructed and started ramming the platform trying to knock Neeko into the water. Neeko desperately tried to hold on, but the platform's wet surface made it almost impossible to do so. Sliding back and forth, Neeko was getting closer to the edge of the platform.

"What do I do? Neeko can't use his tail as a spring board to get out of this mess and if he goes under then it's all over for us" Arc thought cringing at what he saw.

Vaporeon was still hammering away at the underside of the platform now determined to get Neeko in the water. Neeko tail clipped the surface of the water letting off steam. The sight of the steam gave Arc a crazy idea.

"Neeko put your tail by your mouth and use Fire Spin!" Arc shouted hoping his idea would work.

Confused by his trainer's command Neeko looked at Arc as if he was insane. Arc pleaded with Neeko to do it and Neeko nodded trusting his trainer and did what Arc asked. The results were absolutely explosive for Neeko's entire tail was engulfed in a swirling vortex of fire.

"Now hit the surface of the water!" Arc shouted pointing at the water's surface.

Swinging his tail with tremendous force, the results were astronomical. Steam rolled over the entire field and the water started boiling.

Burned by the heat, Vaporeon jumped out of the water scorched. Daisy stood completely awestruck by the maneuver. As Vaporeon landed on the other platform, its legs buckled from the burns it received. Arc didn't give Vaporeon the chance to recover and commanded a Dragon Rage attack. Neeko fired and knocked Vaporeon clear across the field and into the wall. Vaporeon fell to the floor knocked out cold from the force of the hit.

"Vaporeon is like unable to battle. The match goes to Charmeleon! "Violet said.

"You, like got lucky there. That was a foolhardy move using a Fire type against me." Daisy scowled and returned Vaporeon.

She then threw her second Pokeball releasing a large orange crab Pokémon on the field.

"Kingler, the Pincer Pokémon and the evolved form of Krabby. Kingler's larger pincer has immensely powerful crushing strength, but because of its weight, it is difficult to aim." Arcs Pokedex beeped.

Arc looked at the menacing claw Kingler wielded. Knowing it could do a real number on Neeko he warned him to keep his distance.

"Battle resume!" Violet shouted.

On command Kingler moved with lightning speed swimming across the pool like an Olympic athlete. It reached Neeko and smacked him with the broad side of his heavy claw. The force of the impact sent a shockwave across the field knocking Neeko clear off the field and out of the match. Arc jumped off his platform and ran to Neeko. Scooping him up in his arms, Arc laid him on a nearby bench to recover. Neeko sat up and looked at him as if to apologize, his solemn eyes staring at Arc.

"Neeko you did well. Not only did you hold your own against a water type, but you also beat it. Take a break buddy, Arceus knows you deserve it." Arc said wiping the tear that was in Neeko's eye.

Walking back to the platform Arc signaled Snow Storm to get ready. She landed on her respective platform and glared at the Kingler. It swung its massive claw demonstrating how much power it had. Knowing that she wasn't exactly intimidating she decided to sit there and act like she didn't care.

"Battle resume!" Violet shouted.

"Snow Storm go, climb above Kingler! Arc shouted thinking she would be safe up there.

She flew high above Kingler keeping her eyes focused on her target. Kingler sat there unfazed by their plan. Looking back at Daisy she nodded at it.

"Kingler use Ice Beam and aim for her wings." Daisy said pointing at Snow Storm.

Kingler aimed its massive claw and fired a devastating Ice Beam attack straight at her. Moving with grace, Snow Storm dodged at the last second and retaliated with Stun Spore sprinkling the orange powder everywhere. Paralyzed by the powder, Kingler tried its best to move, but it couldn't budge so Daisy ordered it to get into the water. Trying its best, Kingler managed to roll into the water and rinse off the Stun Spore. Snow Storm then shuddered and looked at Arc.

"Calm down girl. Use String Shot!" Arc said trying to keep Snow Storm calm.

She fired and managed to wrap the sticky goo around Kingler's heavy claw. It looked at the string unfazed and used Crabhammer on the pool splitting the water down the middle creating a wall on both sides of Snow Storm. Kingler then ripped the string off with its smaller claw and fired Ice Beam at the walls of water completely encasing the two in a dome of ice. Arc then realized that Snow Storm's movements would be limited now because of the restricted height the dome offered. Kingler then fired a barrage of Ice Beams in an attempt to pin her in place. Snow Storm dodged the first barrage with a series of spiral maneuvers. Then all of a sudden she was trapped in a cage of icicle spikes from a second barrage.

Kingler then jumped in an attempt to use Vice Grip and it connected. Snow Storm's foot was caught firmly in Kingler's claw and it wasted no time slamming her into the ice wall repeatedly. Screaming in pain she tried desperately to get away. Flapping vigorously she managed to get back in the air, but she was dragging Kingler with her. In a final attempt to shake Kingler loose, Snow Storm used Gust. Tossed in the wind Kingler released its grip and went sailing into one of the ice walls. Snow Storm's eyes then began to glow and she fired a beam of multicolored lights at Kingler. Amazed by the move Arc looked it up and found out that the move is called Psybeam. The move connected and Kingler walked around dazed and confused. In the midst of its confusion Kingler used Crabhammer and shattered the wall causing ice to crash down on both it and Snow Storm. Arc called for Snow Storm, but there was no movement under the pile of ice shards.

"Snow Storm! Where are you girl?! Come on, say something!" Arc pleaded for a response.

Suddenly, Kingler burst from the pile of ice battered and hurt, but Snow Storm was nowhere to be found. Kingler collapsed from its injuries, unable to battle anymore.

"Kingler is unable to battle, but Snow Storm is nowhere to be found. Therefore the winner is…." Violet trailed off looking at Kingler.

All eyes then focused on Kingler as they heard squeaks from its big claw. Snow Storm then poked its head out and wiggled her way out of Kingler's claw. Arc stood there dumbfounded wondering how she got inside its claw.

"Kingler is unable to battle. Therefore the winner is Butterfree and the victory goes to Arc the challenger" Violet shouted while pointing at Arc.

Arc sighed, relieved that the battle was over. He felt like he was sitting on a Beedrill nest the entire battle. He praised Neeko and Snow Storm for a job well done and tossed them Oran Berries. While they happily munched on their berries Arc turned his attention to Daisy who approached him holding a small box.

"Good job Arc. I totally thought I was going to win when you like chose to lead with a Fire type. Here is your Cascade Badge, you totally deserve it" Daisy said opening the box.

Arc accepted the badge with a triumphant grin and thanked Daisy. She winked at him causing Arc to blush and avert his gaze to hide it. Daisy giggled noticing that he was crushing a bit. Arc said his goodbyes and left the gym eagerly to remove himself from the embarrassing situation.

Later that day, Arc went to the Pokémon Center to give his parents a call. He was sure that they wanted to hear from him since they haven't spoken since Pewter City. Arc made his way to the video phone and was able to get ahold of his parents. The conversation started out just fine, but it was obvious that his mother and father had something on their mind. Their brows were furrowed and they were staring at Neeko and Snow Storm.

"What's wrong? It seems you to have a lot on your mind" Arc asked.

"There's nothing wrong son. It's just that all we can see are Neeko and Snow Storm. Don't you have any other Pokémon?" Duke asked keeping his gaze on the Pokémon duo.

"I was thinking the same thing. Surely you didn't beat the Cerulean Gym with a Fire type and a Bug/Flying type." Cleo remarked.

Arc scratched his head and explained that he did win using Neeko. His parents looked at him sternly making Arc believe that he was in trouble with them. Sweat rolled off his forehead apprehensive of what his parents were going to say. There wasn't much that scared him more than his parents when they were angry. Memories raced through his mind of the Kakuna incident that occurred three years ago. Unable to bear the thought of the scolding he received that time he tried to placate them.

"We're not angry at you Arc. We're just trying to figure out why you haven't caught anything else since you first left." his father said noticing that Arc was acting rather nervous.

"Oh... Well the reason that I haven't caught any other Pokémon is actually quite simple." Arc sighed relieved that he wasn't in trouble.

"My reasoning starts after my first battle with you dad. I left the house so confused by what you meant by the bond between trainer and Pokémon. During my travels however, I have experienced so much. I've laughed, I've cried, I've been scared, I've won battles and lost them, but the biggest thing was that I didn't do it alone. Every step of my journey I've done with my Pokémon and I want to cherish each of those memories forever. I made a promise to myself night at Snow Storm evolved that I would not catch another Pokémon until I lost a gym battle and I have every intention of keeping that promise." Arc explained his parents.

After talking it over amongst themselves His parents decided to let Arc do what he wants and not give any hassle about it. Relieved that they understood his reasoning, Arc said his goodbyes and decided to turn in for the evening exhausted from his battle with Daisy.


	7. Chapter 7

**Since there were no questions asked in the last chapter I am going to have to skip the Q&A session. This chapter was kinda difficult to write because there are several plot twists they're going to greatly affect Arc in the future. I hope you enjoy the chapter.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 7: End of the Line and New Beginnings<strong>

Arc trudged down the road with Neeko and Snow Storm hot on his heels. They were only a few hours from Vermillion City, but that was the last thing on Arc's mind. He was busy grumbling to himself upset at the events that have happened over the last week or so since he left Vermillion City. He engaged in several battles and two of them in particular left him in a foul mood. The first one was against a trainer named Damian and his Charmander. Arc won that battle, but the victory was bittersweet to him for what he witnessed afterwards was disturbing at best.

_"Neeko dodge and use Scratch!" Arc shouted._

_Neeko jumped over a little Charmander doing a flip in the air. Landing behind the Charmander he swung around and scratched it's back knocking it down. Damian flustered with how the battle was going ordered Charmander to use Flamethrower. Charmander tried his best, but used Ember instead of Flamethrower. Neeko deflected the attack and knocked Charmander out with a Fire Spin attack. With the battle finished, Arc praised Neeko for a good job and made the usual monetary exchange with Damian. As he turned to leave he couldn't help but overhear Damian talking to his Charmander._

_"You stupid thing! You refused to obey my orders and lost the match. You're finished as far as I am concerned" Damian said holding Charmander up by the tail._

_Charmander squealed and thrashed in pain, but couldn't shake himself free. Arc stood there in utter disbelief wondering how this trainer could be so mean to his Pokémon. He ordered Neeko to use Fire Spin, but was cut off by Damian._

_"Stay out of this you whelp. This is none of your business!" Damian glared at Arc_

_"Actually it is! You have no right to treat your Charmander that way!" Arc scolded._

_Arc ordered Neeko to attack, but they were chased away when Damian unleashed a very large Rock type Pokémon on them. As the behemoth rolled after them Arc got the information in his Pokedex._

_"Golem, The Megaton Pokémon. Once a year it sheds its bedrock shell and grows larger." The Pokedex beeped._

He never met a trainer who paid no mind to how his Pokémon felt. The other trainer that pissed him off was none other than Gary Oak. Unlike the battle with Damian, Arc lost that match. The thing that got to him though was Gary's arrogant high self-confidence. Gary boasted after the match and called Arc several rude names that left a rather unpleasant taste in his mouth.

Neeko and Snow Storm followed at a bit of a distance. They knew very well that an angry Arc often came with a temper that would make a Gyarados look meek. Finally gathering some nerve, Neeko walked towards Arc and looked at him trying to get his trainer to cheer up. Seeing Neeko's attempts put Arc in a better mood and he started whistling to lighten the mood. Snow Storm landed on Arc's head and started playing with the two spikes in his hair knowing that he was no longer in a nasty mood.

The trio made it to the city later that day and went to the Pokémon Center. Arc told Neeko and Snow Storm that they could go and do what they want for now, but stay out of trouble. Arc then went to a table and started reading a magazine that caught his eye called _Trainer's Weekly_. Flipping through the pages he wasn't finding anything exciting until he reached page thirty-seven. Lifting the book he read the title "_Black Persian reappears near Mauville City_". Arc continued reading the article and found out that during a battle a few years back, a Persian accidently ingested a Dark Pulse attack turning its cream color fur black and the tips of its ears turned white. Now it stalks around Mauville City only showing itself at night.

"I never knew that Pokémon were even capable of ingesting an attack. Maybe Professor Oak would know something about that." Arc said as he sprinted to the phone to call Professor Oak to discuss what he found out.

The next day Arc was set to go. His discussion with Professor Oak left him with more questions than answers because he hasn't even heard of a situation like that before. As he walked towards the door a young girl came barreling in with a Chansey pushing a gurney.

"Hold on Horsea! We'll get you some help as soon as possible!" the young girl screamed.

Nurse Joy watched as they ran to the ER and sighed.

"That's the third one this week." She said slightly annoyed.

"Third what?!" Arc said watching the spectacle unfold.

Nurse Joy explained that she was the third person this week to get beaten by the gym leader here in Vermillion City. Surprised that there was a gym here is well, Arc inquired about the leader.

"His name is Lt. Surge and he is an Electric type gym leader. His gym can be found about three blocks north of here." Nurse Joy said.

Arc thanked her for all of her help and headed over to the Gym. It was a short walk, but Arc spent about five minutes outside of the gym trying to think of a strategy. He knew he was at a disadvantage once again and cursed himself for it.

"Why did I make that stupid promise?" He sighed as he entered the gym.

As he entered, he was greeted by a very tall gentleman wearing a green coat, combat boots, and a set of dog tags around his neck. Arc just stared as a single thought crossed his mind "_I hope he is not the Gym Leader_". Much to Arc's dismay though he was indeed the Gym Leader.

"Welcome to the Vermillion City Gym baby!" Lt. Surge's voice echoed through the building.

"Hello there. You must be Lt. Surge…. wait a minute. Did you just call me baby?" Arc questioned raising an eyebrow.

Lt. Surge chuckled and explained that he calls all new challengers baby. Arc stifled any remarks he had and formally challenged him to a Gym battle. Lt. Surge accepted and both trainers took their positions.

"This will be a one on one battle. The winner will be declared when one side's Pokémon is unable to continue. Battle begin!" the judge announced.

Lt. Surge made the first move and sent in a Raichu. Arc thought about it for a second and sent in Snow Storm. Fluttering from Arc's side she settled on the ground and readied herself for battle. Arc called the first attack and Snow Storm flew back in the air using Psybeam. Using its tail as a shield Raichu deflected Psybeam and began to charge at her. Lt. Surge called for a Thunderbolt attack and Raichu fired a menacing bolt of electricity straight at Snow Storm. She tried her best to dodge, but she wasn't fast enough and got fried by the Thunderbolt attack. Completely stunned by the attack Snow Storm fell out of the sky and landed with a dull thud. She got back on her feet and charged straight for Raichu in an attempt to tackle it. Raichu was prepared for it though and swung its massive tail knocking Snow Storm flying into the adjacent wall.

"Alright Raichu, give it another Thunderbolt!" Lt Surge shouted clenching his fists.

Raichu fired and hit Snow Storm right on the chest knocking her out of the match. Neeko stood there amazed by the power that Raichu had. He remembered when he was clobbered by Daisy's Kingler, but that attack couldn't even hold a candle to the pain that Snow Storm must have been feeling.

"Butterfree is unable to battle, the winner is Raichu and the victory goes to Lt. Surge" the judge said.

Completely dumbstruck by what happened, Arc fell to his knees and just sat there, tears starting to well up in his eyes. Lt. Surge walked up to him with a big grin on his face.

"Did you really think that you had a chance to beat me baby?" Lt. Surge said with a smug voice.

"I always knew the day would come when I would be beaten in a gym battle. I just didn't think it would happen so quickly and end up making me look like an absolute fool." Arc said while scooping Snow Storm up in his arms

"What did you expect from a little baby like you?" Lt. Surge said.

"I will be back to challenge you again, and when I do things will be different. This I swear on." Arc said flatly while walking towards the door.

Unsure of what to do next Arc walked to the Pokémon Center to think and get his Pokémon healed. When he arrived he saw Nurse Joy sitting behind a desk and he asked her to look after Snow Storm for him. She assured him that Snow Storm would receive the best care possible and walked away with her on a gurney. As the two walked away, Snow Storm looked back at him with apologetic eyes. Arc knew that she felt that it was her fault that they lost the battle, but the fact remains that it was his fault that they lost and not hers.

After watching one of his best friends roll away on a gurney, Arc went to the commons area to think about what he should do next. While Arc sat there with his head down deep in thought, Neeko approached and put a caring paw on his leg. Neeko knew his trainer was down, and it was up to him to make him feel better. Moved by his partners caring gesture he knelt down to stare Neeko right in the eyes.

"Alright buddy. What do you think we should do? In all honesty I don't think I have the skill to make it to the top. I mean look what happened to poor Snow Storm because of my idiotic choices. Maybe we should head back home." Arc said looking Neeko in the eyes.

Neeko stared Arc down with blank but intense expression. Suddenly his brow furrowed and he whirled around smacking Arc in the face with his tail. Arc sailed backwards and landed on his back sprawled out on the floor. Neeko then jumped on his chest practically scolding him with grunts and growls. Arc laid there flabbergasted by his partner's harsh actions, but he found an answer in his actions. Neeko had no intentions of letting Arc off the hook and go home. Amazed by his partner's determination, Arc sighed.

"Alright you win. We will continue our training and become stronger together. Now let's go check on Snow Storm. I am sure Nurse Joy is finished treating her." Arc said getting off the ground.

Walking to the recovery room Arc and Neeko went see how Snow Storm was holding up after her battle. When they arrived Arc was relieved to see that Snow Storm was okay. She looked at him with sorrowful eyes, and he knew that she felt sorry for what happened. She put a small paw out to show her apology. Arc put his hand on her chest motioning to put her paw back down.

"It wasn't your fault Snow Storm. I made the mistake of sending you into battle when I knew that you were at a type disadvantage. I apologize for putting you through that, but together we are going to get stronger" Arc said with new determination.

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><p><strong>I realize that the story suddenly picked up the pace, the gym battle was short, and I didn't put in the puzzle but please hold your Ponytas. This chapter is the start of some pretty epic stuff. The gym leader battle was supposed to only be a minor point in the chapter. <strong>


	8. Chapter 8

**Alright Chapter 8 is posted and set to go. Please review this one for it was a hard chapter to write.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 8: The Edge of a Clif<strong>

Arc left the Pokémon Center with renewed vigor. It's been two weeks since his defeat at the Vermillion City Gym, but Snow Storm has finally recovered from her injuries. It would have been only a week, but the Thunderbolt attacks she received ended up burning the edges of her wings so bad that she had to relearn how to fly. Taking the delay in stride, Arc decided to take the time to plan his next move so he could beat Lt. Surge and get his Thunder Badge.

He headed northeast, headed towards a nearby mountain range challenging any Pokémon trainer he met. Arc knew this was going to be a challenge for him remembering what Nurse Joy said.

_ "There is someone in the mountains to the northeast you might want to meet." Nurse Joy said spotting Arc trying to figure out how to beat Lt. Surge._

_"Who would that be Nurse Joy?" Arc asked interested._

_'He's an old timer and good friend of Lt. Surge that comes down to visit every so often. From what I heard, he's supposedly the only person who has never lost against Lt. Surge. It's also rumored that he was once the Kanto Champion before Lance beat him a few years ago. I believe his name was Clif." Nurse Joy responded looking at the ceiling deep in thought._

Knowing that he was going to be out for a while with no contact with the world, Arc stocked up on supplies that would last him well over a month. He also took the time and bought a solar powered cell phone so he could make emergency calls if needed. He felt well prepared for the trip up the mountains and his Pokémon were chomping at the bit to go as well.

It took Arc the rest the day and the next to reach the foot of the mountain range. Trying to get there took him longer than he expected because he challenged a few people to battles. That night while setting up camp, he felt that something was amiss. Looking up in the sky he noticed an ominous figure approaching him. Unsure of what was, Arc pulled out his phone and Pokedex hoping to identify it. Luckily he was able to snap a photo of it before the creature vanished, but because of the distance he only identified that it had large crescent shaped wings.

"What on earth was that thing? It was monstrous!" Arc said looking at the photo he took.

Neeko stood there and glared at the picture. It was as if something about the creature pissed him off to no end. Arc told him to knock it off and went to bed tired from traveling.

The next day he was back on the road ready for whatever faced him. As he traveled up the mountain he noticed that the train was getting rougher and it was getting harder to get past obstacles that were in the road. On two different occasions he had to have Neeko use Fire Spin to remove trees that were blocking the road. He also had to have Snow Storm use String Shot in order to cross deep crevices in the rock. Frustrated with his progress, he tried to remain in high spirits and keep a positive outlook. It would have been bad for their morale if he started complaining now.

Arc stopped for lunch around noon near a small pond that overlooked a mountain pass. As he ate he felt the ground below him shake and heard rumbling noises, but he didn't concern himself with it too much because he figured that it was a rockslide nearby. Snow Storm fluttered over the pond when a shadow under the water caught her attention. She hovered over it curious to what it was, when a large Pokémon leaped out of the water attacking her.

She dodged in the nick of time and fired several Psybeam attacks at her assailant. The mysterious Pokémon flew back and landed on the shore flopping and splashing around. Arc saw the fiasco unfold and pulled out his Pokedex.

"Magikarp, the Fish Pokémon. Because all Magikarp seem to do is splash around, some consider them weak, but they're actually a hardy Pokémon that can survive in water no matter how dirty it is." The Pokedex beeped.

Arc was surprised by the size of the Magikarp for it was nearly double the size of a normal one. Thinking that it was rare to see one that size, Arc decided he wanted to catch it. Taking out a Pokeball, he threw it at the Magikarp hitting it, but the Pokeball didn't do anything. Confused, Arc picked up his Pokeball and stared at the giant fish.

"Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing here kid!" a gruff voice said from behind Arc.

Arc spun on a heel and faced the person. What he found scared him senseless. The voice came from a man that rivaled Lt. Surge in height, but he looked way tougher than Lt. Surge. He wore a tan long sleeve shirt, a blue vest, gray pants, and sported a large beard. The thing that scared Arc the most about the mysterious man was the eye patch he wore over his left eye. He stood there and babbled nonsense to the man trying to explain the situation when the man pushed Arc to the side and walked up to the Magikarp. In one fluid movement the man hauled off and punted the Magikarp ten feet in the air and back into the water.

He then turned around to face Arc once more. The stern gaze he gave made Arc shiver.

"Now… I am going to ask you one more time. What the hell are you doing here kid? This is my fucking property and you are trespassing!" he repeated with a harsh but deadly calm voice.

"Look sir. I am not here to cause trouble. I am just looking for an older fellow by the name of Clif. Do you happen to know where I can find him?" Arc said trying to act tough.

"Cut the crap kid. You're causing me trouble just by being here… I know who Clif is, but like hell if I am going to show you to him especially after you tried to catch my Magikarp." The man retorted.

Arc whistled signaling Snow Storm and Neeko that he was going to need their assistance. Snow Storm was the first to appear landing on Arc's head while Neeko jumped to his side.

"Look old timer. I have come too far to turn back. If I face you in a battle will you show me where Clif is?" Arc said.

Snow Storm flew in front of Arc and settled on the field. The man eyed her up and gave a menacing grin.

"Nice Butterfree kid… Tell you what, since you refuse to back down I'll accept your challenge. However you must use your Butterfree" he said and pulled out a camouflage colored Pokeball.

"Okay…. Why do you want to battle Snow Storm so bad? Arc asked while he thought "_It seems like everyone and their brother wants my Butterfree_".

The man didn't respond to Arc, but threw the Pokeball he had in his hand.

"Go Butterfree! Break their will!" the man shouted.

In a flash of sparkling light another Butterfree appeared in front of Arc. He pulled out his Pokédex and looked up Butterfree again.

"Really! When am I ever going to see the Butterfree that the Pokedex shows? This one has green eyes, pink hands and feet and sparkles when released from a Pokeball" Arc complained.

The old timer smirked and commanded his Butterfree to use Sleep Powder. Arc retaliated and had Snow Storm use Sleep Powder as well. Both Butterfree and Snow Storm sprang into action, but the old timer's Butterfree was much faster than Snow Storm was. Sprinkling the powder everywhere, the Butterfree promptly placed Snow Storm into a deep sleep. Arc stood there amazed watching how quickly the Butterfree moved wondering how he himself could get Snow Storm to move that quick. The old timer didn't waste a moment and commanded his Butterfree to use Nightmare. Butterfree hovered over Snow Storm and released a pulse of dark energy that enveloped her entire body. Arc could hear squeals from Snow Storm, but couldn't see her because of the energy that encased her.

As the sphere of dark energy dissipated Arc noticed that Snow Storm was convulsing in her sleep. As the move took its toll she thrashed even more trying to escape whatever was causing her pain. The old timer's Butterfree then followed up with a move called Dream Eater. Flying fast and low, the Butterfree made a shadowy image of itself that attempted to pass through Snow Storm. However the move never got to connect, for Snow Storm woke up at the last second and the shadow doppelganger of Butterfree passed through her harmlessly.

Flying above the other Butterfree, Snow Storm unleashed a powerful Stun Spore attack in an attempt to slow it down. The old timer saw what arc was up to and commanded his Butterfree to dodge and follow up with Quiver Dance. Butterfree rolled to the left and started dancing in an odd pattern. When it finished it used Sleep Powder again moving faster than before. Snow Storm didn't stand a chance dodging and promptly fell asleep again. This time instead of the Butterfree using Nightmare again, it went directly into Dream Eater knocking Snow Storm out of the battle.

Flabbergasted by what happened Arc ran to Snow Storm to see if she was okay. The old timer walked up to him and laughed. Arc shot a nasty glare at the old man. How dare he laugh at Snow Storm when he used every underhanded trick in the book.

"Like I said kid, you have a nice Butterfree. However you have a long way before you can beat someone like Lt. Surge" the old man said as he sat down on a large rock.

"Thanks for the compliment, but …Wait a minute! How on earth did you know that I just faced Lt. Surge?" Arc asked wondering who the man was.

Several thoughts cross through Arc's mind as he tried to figure out who the man was. "_The only way he could have known that I faced Lt. Surge is if is…_"

"By any chance are you Clif?" Arc asked pointing at the man who was now lighting a pipe to smoke.

"Hell yeah I am. The name is Hiker Clif. Ex-special forces, tactical genius, and former Champion of the Kanto region." Clif said nonchalantly.

Arc then started bombarding him with questions, asking Clif how he could beat Lt. Surge. He crowded Clif with every question that he could think of. Suddenly with one fluid movement, Clif stood up and threw Arc by the collar of his shirt into the pond. Gasping for air, Arc swam to the surface and looked at Clif who was sitting back down.

"Stay out of my personal space" Clif said with a sharp tone.

Arc walked out of the water apologizing and started warming up next to Neeko's tail. It was getting to be late and Clif stood to walk away. Arc watched him as he left unsure if he should ask any more questions. Getting tossed like that was not something he wanted to do again.

"Meet me at the top of that ridge at dawn tomorrow" Clif stated pointing due east from where they were.

Arc nodded and Clif took his leave. Arc stayed put, but was bursting at the seams inside. This was his chance to learn from a former champion and grow as a trainer. Arc, Neeko, and Snow Storm all smiled and gave each other high fives.

"_Look out Lt. Surge. I'm coming for you_" Arc thought to himself.

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><p><strong>You have now met my second OC which is Clif. I have several more which I will introduce in future chapters. I hope you enjoy.<strong>

**P.S. Butterfree is most definitely able to learn Nightmare for those who didn't know. It can only be learned by the Move Tutor in Pokemon XD Gale of Darkness.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Trials and Troubles**

"Alright… Where is he? Clif told me to meet him here at dawn and I'm on time" Arc grumbled impatiently.

Arc woke up bright and early and made his way to the ridge that Clif specified the day before. Pacing back and forth he looked at the entrance to the forest thinking that Clif was late. However, what he didn't know was that Clif was already there.

"Hey there kid! Ready to get started?" he shouted.

Looking up, Arc saw Clif standing on top of a large boulder overlooking the ridge. He asked what he was supposed to be ready for. Clif laughed and explained that he plans on teaching him some techniques so he could improve his battling.

"Your battling style is sloppy at best. I was able to predict exactly what you were going to do before you thought of the idea yourself, but I aim to change that and turn you into a real trainer." Clif stated.

He jumped off the boulder and landed within a few feet of Arc. Arc was a bit taken aback by what he said, but he took the remark in stride to avoid flying in the water again. Clif pointed down the ridge to what appeared to be an obstacle course.

"We will be working on your Pokémon's speed and power along with your ability to read your surroundings. The idea is that while your Pokémon run the course you run alongside them on the walkway that overlooks the course giving them commands as you go." Clif stated.

The two made their way down the ridge to the obstacle course. When they arrived Clif gave Arc, Neeko, and Snow Storm a chance to see the obstacles they would be facing. Some of the more notable ones included a set of a low lying barb wire fence, three swinging logs, a wooden wall, Aipom bars, and a maze of spinning pylons that had arms on them. After inspecting the different pieces of the maze Arc, Neeko, and Snow Storm took their place at the starting line of the course. Ready for the challenge, Arc nodded to Clif signifying that he will go when he commands.

Clif then threw a Pokeball releasing a Gengar according to Arc's Pokedex. Using Psychic, Gengar lifted itself and Clif into the air to give him a better vantage point of what's going on.

"Alright Kid. Let's see what you've got! If your Pokémon gets hit by one of the moving obstacles in the course or destroys an obstacle it's out of the race." Clif shouted hovering over the course.

"The name's Arc you old-timer and got it!" Arc shouted.

Arc signaled his Pokémon to go taking off in a full sprint onto the walkway. Neeko and Snow Storm took off leaping into the fray of the course and towards the first obstacle. When they reached the barbed wire fence, Arc told Neeko to dive and roll under the fence. Snow Storm did a barrel roll between the holes in the fence flying low and fast. Passing through the first obstacle without much difficulty they ran towards the swinging logs. Without missing a beat Neeko blasted through the swinging logs doing a somersault in the air. Landing on his feet he kept moving through the course. Snow Storm wasn't as lucky and got taken out by the second of the three logs and flung into the dirt. Neeko stopped to see if she was okay right before the wall.

"Neeko keep moving! I know you want to make sure she's okay, but you have to treat this like a battle and stay focused! " Arc shouted.

Neeko nodded and refocused on the wall. Slapping his tail against the ground Neeko leaped over the wall and made a mad dash towards the Aipom bars. Once there he tried his luck swinging from bar to bar, but he ended up falling in the mud knocking him out of the race. Arc jumped off the bridge and down in the mud to make sure both Neeko and Snow Storm were okay. After seeing that they were fine Arc approached Clif who was still levitating due to Gengar's Psychic.

"Wow…. I've seen some crappy runs through my course, but that was absolute shit there. Go and do it again." Clif stated flatly.

Arc rolled his eyes letting the insults slide. He figured that if he was going to train under Clif, he would have to get used to the harsh language. "_This is going to be a long day_" he thought while walking back to the course starting line.

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Meanwhile in the far reaches of the Sinnoh Region, another set of events are unfolding…

The silence of the forest is disturbed by the sound of sirens. Police are now in hot pursuit of what they think is a Pokémon Hunter scout that works for the infamous Hunter J. He wears a purple shirt, grey pants, a blue trench coat and a cyan bandana. As he ran from the cops, he could hear the barks and growls of several Growlithe and Arcanine that were gaining ground on him. As the suspect reached a clearing, he was ambushed by a large group of officers that were lying in wait. Completely surrounded, the suspect stands there as Officer Jenny approaches.

"Alright Thorton give it up! We have you surrounded!" She barks at him.

Thorton smiles realizing that she is more oblivious than he thought. He then charges her making a loud whistling noise. At first nothing happened, but after a few seconds a mist starts rolling in, blinding the officers. When the mist cleared, Thorton was no longer cornered, but was making a getaway on a large Dragonite. He then had Dragonite swing around and fired a barrage of Dragon Pulse attacks that covered the clearing in smoke allowing him to escape.

"When will theses officers learn that I left Hunter J. She may be a relative of mine by blood, but she left me hanging back in Pewter City thus severing any ties I had with her" Thorton laughed, patting his Dragonite on the back.

He flew for another hour or so until he reached a cave at the base of Mount Coronet. Landing at the cave entrance Thorton dismounted from Dragonite's back and went inside. When he got in the cave he was greeted by a Flygon, Druddigon, and Garchomp. He greeted each one of them and went farther in a cave where there was a girl sitting by a fire.

"So how did it go?" the girl asked sarcastically.

"Beau. I am not in the mood for your games. I was able to get some supplies, but the police are relentless." Thorton replied.

He sat down and tossed a bag at Beau that had the supplies he bought at Solaceon Town. He couldn't believe his luck. What was supposed to be a normal trip to the store turned into a huge fiasco, and all because a police officer recognized him. His sister Beau knew he was upset and decided to leave him alone for a while.

Beau was the same age as Thorton. She had orange colored hair covered by a light blue bandanna. She wore a red short-sleeve shirt, White shorts with blue accents and white high heels. She had a love for Water type Pokémon and her main partner was an Azumarill that was sitting nearby filling a pot with Water Gun.

"So how long do we have to stay in this cave Thorton?" she asked hoping to leave soon.

Thorton got up and went to the entrance of the cave and stared. Deep in thought, he barely heard what his sister asked him. Memories flooded his mind of when he was betrayed by Hunter J. He then remembered what happened at the Pewter City Pokémon Center when he went to get his Zangoose healed when he was badly injured by J's Drapion.

_As he walked in the door he brushed up against another Trainer that was walking out of the center. The kid wore a white Pokémon League polo, blue jeans, brown shoes, and he carrying a purple single strap backpack. The most prominent thing about the kid was his hair. It was half red and half yellow with a spike on each side and an electrical arc jumping between them. He also remembered that the kid was being trailed by a Charmeleon and a very unusual Butterfree_.

He remembered that the kid was going to apologize for bumping into him, but noticed that he was in an exceptionally bad mood. "_I wonder who that kid was_" Thorton thought to himself as he reentered the cave.

"Beau, remember that kid I told you about that had the unique Butterfree?" Thorton asked.

"Yeah. What about him?" Beau responded confused by his question.

"Well I heard that he beat the snot out of a couple of Team Rocket agents a few weeks ago. I was thinking that we could go and find him" Thorton said with fierce determination in his eyes.

"What the hell do you want to find him for? He's just a kid" Beau responded worried that Thorton was losing his mind.

She went and put a comforting hand on his shoulder, knowing that since her cousin betrayed him Thorton hasn't been his usual self.

"I want to challenge him to a battle. If he can beat members of an organization as large as Team Rocket, he has to have some talent. You know I want to beat our cousin for what she did, and the only way I will have a Shuppet of a chance of beating her is if I beat other trainers and improve." Thorton said.

Beau tried to reason with Thorton thinking he was becoming too obsessed with the whole thing, but he wouldn't back down. He argued that he needed to do this in order to clear his name.

"Hunter J has been pulling the wool over my eyes for years Beau. What I thought were just scouting missions and meetings were actually preparations for her heists. I do not want to get labeled as a Pokémon hunter" He said with a vengeful tone.

This continued for another hour until Beau finally had enough of the arguing. She let Thorton have his way and decided that they would leave in the morning. Satisfied with the decision, Thorton went to the back of the cave and went to sleep. Beau stayed behind and looked at her Azumarill. "_I hope this isn't a mistake_" she thought to herself.

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><p><strong>Now we are getting to meet some of my other OC's. This chapter was a test to see how well I could introduce them. Depending on my reviews, i might revamp this chapter.<strong>


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: Unleashing Rage**

It has been nine days since Arc started the training regime under Clif's supervision and boy has it been eventful. At the end of the first day Arc and his Pokémon were feeling high and mighty mastering the obstacle course, but only to be crushed the next day when Clif changed the obstacles in the course. He did it to pit Arc against new challenges and as the days passed the obstacles went up in difficulty. It has gotten to the point where Arc and his Pokémon often go back to Clif's cabin bruised and battered from the obstacles.

As the sun rose Arc went through his morning routine. Ever since he started training with Clif, he has been waking up earlier and earlier. At first it was because Clif would toss him in the pond at sunrise, but now Arc wakes up before Clif does and prepares breakfast for the group. As he cooked, Arc could hear Clif roll out of his bed.

"The hell is going on?!" he barked.

"Well good morning grumpy ass" Arc said nonchalantly as he put breakfast on the table.

Unfortunately one of the nasty side effects of training under Clif was that Arc's language went south. He doesn't swear often, but his parents probably would not approve of it. Clif grumbled as he sat at the table and started shoveling his face, eating with the same amount of gusto as a starved Snorlax. While they were eating Clif started inquiring about what Arc has already accomplished since he started his journey.

"I never asked you this before, but how many Gym Badges do you have?" Clif asked.

"I currently have two badges. I won the Cascade Badge at Cerulean City and I also have the Boulder Badge from Pewter City." Arc replied as he lifted his shirt collar to show his badges.

"Boulder Badge ehhh…. Who did you face to get that one? Clif asked with some sharpness in his voice.

"Ummm…. Brock" Arc responded unsure of how Clif was going to react.

At that moment the cabin went dead silent. Clif sat there at the table giving Arc a faraway look of blatant disgust. His breathing grew heavy and Arc noticed that the veins in his neck and forehead started to throb.

"Are you okay there Clif?" He asked.

Clif continued to sit there and stare. Arc knew he hit a rather sensitive topic for Clif and decided not to pursue any further details on the matter. He motioned for Neeko and Snow Storm to go outside and wait till Clif was back to his normal grouchy self. Neeko and Snow Storm darted out the door without a second glance and decided to go stare at the pond.

While they looked at the morning mist over the pond, rustling could be heard from behind them. Suddenly a Raticate and Mightyena jumped them from behind a bush and cornered the duo from the cabin. Baring its fangs, Raticate attempted to separate Neeko from Snow Storm and lunged at Neeko. He dodged to the left, but in the process left Snow Storm completely exposed to Mightyena who had her backed up to a tree. Lunging at her with glowing fangs Mightyena grabbed her midsection and started running down the mountain side.

Hearing the commotion Arc and Clif ran out of the cabin to see Neeko and a Raticate brawling. Arc then looked over in the distance and saw Snow Storm in the jaws of a Pokémon he's never seen.

"Mightyena. The Bite Pokémon and the evolved form of Poochyena. They move primarily in packs, working together to capture prey" the Pokedex beeped.

Arc took off in a mad sprint after Mightyena knowing that she was in trouble. Running downhill made it easier to keep up, but it all changed when the Mightyena jumped and landed in the basket of a black hot air balloon. Arc stopped and stared at the balloon when he heard a familiar set of voices.

"Prepare for trouble... and make it double! To infect the world with devastation! To blight all people in every nation! To denounce the goodness of truth and love! To extend our wrath to the stars above! Cassidy! And Butch, of course! We're Team Rocket, circling Earth all day and night! Surrender to us now or you will surely lose the fight!" the voices said.

Arc sighed and thought to himself "_Not these morons again…_". He still remembered his last brawl with these clowns when they tried to steal Snow Storm by trapping him in a hole.

"Let me guess, you guys are after Snow Storm once again?" He sighed.

"You guessed right! After you torched us the last time, let's just call this sweet revenge!" Cassidy shouted making faces at Arc.

Clif and Neeko finally caught up and stared at the balloon. Neeko growled at their assailants for Pokénapping his best friend while Clif tried to wrap his head around the situation.

"Who the hell are those idiots, and why the fuck did they try to steal your Butterfree?" Clif asked trying to catch his breath.

"These guys are trying to steal Snow Storm because she is an Orange Island variant of Butterfree. They are called Team Rocket!" Arc said with a desperate tone.

Clif's eye narrowed at the sound of Team Rockets name. Standing tall, Clif showed anger unlike that he has ever seen before. To Arc, Clif looked more terrifying now than when he first met him and when he mentioned Brock's name combined. Fuming with rage Clif pulled six Pokeballs out of his pockets and threw them all at once.

"That's it! I've had it with Team Rocket! You guys will pay for this and what you did to me all those years ago! Now Butterfree, Sawk, Gengar, Steelix, Ampharos, and Vaporeon, break their will!" Clif said releasing his pent up rage.

All six of Clif's Pokémon appeared and readied themselves for battle. The most impressive one in Clif's arsenal was the massive Steelix that towered over the rest. Team Rocket saw Clif's Butterfree and decided to go for a pair of rare Butterfree. Butch commanded his Mightyena to attack using Bite attack. Meanwhile Raticate came up from behind the group using Super Fang at Clif's Butterfree as well.

Clif commanded it to dodge and then had his Ampharos use Thunder Punch. Ampharos ran forward and socked Mightyena sending it sailing. Sawk on the other hand used Close Combat to beat up Raticate. Suddenly Steelix shot forward and used Crunch on to the bottom of the balloon to keep Team Rocket from escaping. Neeko saw this as his chance and ran up Steelix's back and into the basket of the balloon. He then used Slash attack and freed Snow Storm from Cassidy's grip.

"You little brat. I'll show you and that old timer a thing or two! Now Raticate use Giga Impact on Steelix!" Cassidy roared.

Raticate started glowing and a purple swirling aura surrounded Raticate as it charged at Steelix. Hitting its mark, Raticate was able to free the balloon from Steelix's grip, but at a heavy cost. Half of the basket was still in its mouth and it left Cassidy and Butch wide open for an attack. They stared at their ruined basket unable to speak.

"Ha! Now Steelix use Dragon Breath, Ampharos use Thunderbolt, Vaporeon use Hydro Pump, Sawk use Stone Edge, and Gengar use Night Shade!" Clif shouted pointing at the balloon.

"Neeko use Fire Spin and Snow Storm use Psybeam!" Arc shouted not wanting to miss out on the fun.

All of the Pokémon attacked at once and their moves merged together to form one giant glowing beam of energy. It collided with the balloon and sent Team Rocket flying over the mountain side. Arc leaped for joy showing his enthusiasm for beating Team Rocket for a second time. Clif just stood there breathing heavily and showing the middle finger in the direction that Team Rocket went flying. Arc noticed Clif's rude gesture and decided that he was tired of not knowing.

"Alright Clif… What caused you to go over the edge like that? I realize Team Rocket had to be stopped, but did you really need to send out your entire team after them? I think that any one of your Pokémon would have been enough to stop them" Arc said glaring at Clif.

Clif sat down on Steelix's midsection and sighed. Arc's constant questioning was getting annoying to say the least, but he knew that he went over the edge with that fight. Leaning forward he stared at Arc.

"This is the reason for my complete loss of self-control" He said pointing at his eye patch.

Arc realized that Clif didn't wear the eye patch to look tough or to help maintain night vision, he wore it because he lost an eye.

"Wait. You're telling me that you lost your eye to Team Rocket?" Arc said dumbfounded.

"It happened many years ago when I was in the military. Back then Team Rocket was a real problem and my unit was called in to deal with them every once in a while. During one particular mission I was ambushed by a Persian. During the fight, I lost my eye when it fired a Power Gem attack" Clif stated.

Arc then understood the severity of Clif's hatred of Team Rocket. To lose an eye during a mission to stop those scum bags must have been mentally devastating. Still thinking about what Clif said, Arc walked up to Clif's Pokémon and looked up the ones he's never seen before in his Pokedex.

"Ampharos, the Light Pokémon. Ampharos emits a strong light from the tip of its tail, which can be seen over long distances and serve as a beacon to those who are lost."

"Steelix, the Iron Snake Pokémon. Steelix is the evolved form of Onix. It has been compressed underground, making its body harder than diamonds."

"Sawk, the Karate Pokémon. Sawk train high up in the mountains by punching trees and rocks and the sound can be heard from far away."

He marveled at each one of them. All of his Pokémon looked incredibly powerful and well taken care of. While he stared in complete adoration of his Pokémon a massive roar could be heard in the distance. The two of them looked in the direction of the cabin and saw smoke billowing.

"Ah shit! The bastard is back again" Clif said returning his Pokémon and taking off towards his cabin.


	11. Chapter 11

**This was an exciting chapter to write. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did writing it.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 11: Child's Play<strong>

Arc took off in hot pursuit after Clif. He knew that things were going to get real ugly if Clif was running being that he has never seen Clif run before. As they ran several Flamethrowers and Hydro Pumps could be seen over the tree lines. At first Arc thought it was a battle, but the fact that Clif said "the bastard" meant it was only one Pokémon causing all that havoc. As they got closer they caught a glimpse of the creature and what they saw hit Arc like a ton of bricks. A pair of familiar looking crescent wings appeared over the tree line and was followed by a thundering roar. The wings reminded Arc of the monster he saw when he was first climbing the mountain.

When they reached the cabin Arc and Clif saw that it was fine, but several trees were on fire. Looking on the opposite side of the clearing, they saw the monster with their own eyes. To Arc it looked like a massive blue lizard with red and grey accents. The creature has three spikes on each side of its face and large wings. Arc pulled out his Pokedex and looked it up.

"Salamence. The Dragon Pokémon and the evolved form of Shelgon. It flies around spouting flames and scorching fields and mountains" the Pokedex beeped.

Clif glared at the Dragon type with disgust. Throwing a Pokeball he sent out his Vaporeon and commanded it to use Ice Beam. Salamence dodged and flew up high while holding a rather large tree branch in its mouth.

"Well how many more things want to go ahead and piss me off today?" He asked sullenly.

It then landed behind Vaporeon and threw the large branch like a willow wand. Hitting Vaporeon, the branch launched it clear off the ground and in the water. The Salamence then flew back in the air and grabbed the branch again. Vaporeon leaped out of the water and rapid fired Ice Beams at Salamence trying to knock it out of the sky. Clipping its wings, the Ice Beams sent the Salamence into a spiral dive into the pond.

Watching the bubbles, Neeko jumped forward intent on joining the fight to stop the rogue Salamence. Snow Storm hung back trying to recover from the injury she received from Mightyena. Bursting from the water Salamence landed in front of Neeko and stared back at him. The odd thing was that Salamence didn't act like it wanted to battle, but as if it wanted to play with Neeko. Neeko watched it confused as to why it kept its head low and wagging its tail.

"Uh Clif… Why is this Salamence acting like an excited Growlithe? It's odd that a fully evolved Dragon type Pokémon is acting like this" Arc noted while watching the Salamence.

"How the hell should I know, I just want the damn thing out of here! Now Vaporeon Use Ice Beam once more!" Clif shouted.

Vaporeon fired creating a big icicle spike near Salamence. Arc saw the spike of ice and thought of an idea.

"Clif have Vaporeon keep using Ice Beam. We need to trap it in one place." Arc shouted.

Clif nodded and told Vaporeon to circle Salamence and use Ice Beam. Neeko jumped into the fray as well and used Fire Spin above Salamence to keep it from flying. Trapping it in a cage of ice, Vaporeon circled it until the only part of the dragon that could move was its head and neck. Neeko then used Dragon Rage and hit Salamence square in the face knocking it out cold.

"I finally got you now you little shit. Now I need to get rid of you once and for all" Clif said walking up to Salamence and putting his boot on its nose.

"Hey Clif I have an idea on how we can get rid of him permanently' Arc said catching Clif's attention.

Clif turned to listen, but instead of stating his idea Arc threw a Pokeball hitting the Salamence on the forehead. The Pokeball shook after Salamence vanished inside of it and with a flash Arc captured the dragon.

"There… Problem solved. You lose one of your headaches and I get a new Pokémon" Arc said picking up the Pokeball.

Clif grunted and started walking back to the cabin. After inspecting the perimeter he went inside and made sure that none of his few belongings were destroyed by the Salamence. Arc followed him inside and asked if training was to continue as if nothing happened.

"No. You have improved a fair amount since you first came here. I think it's time that we have an evaluation battle to see how well you do. The battle will be best two out of three with no substitutions" Clif stated flatly.

Arc agreed and stepped back outside. Walking towards the other side of the field he started brainstorming potential nicknames for his new Salamence. He scanned Salamence's Pokeball with his Pokedex and found that it was a male and it knew Flamethrower, Hydro Pump, Dragon Dance, and Dragon Claw. He took his respective place and sent Neeko out to battle first. Clif join him a few minutes later and called out his Ampharos to battle.

"You have the honors Arc" Clif grinned menacingly.

"Very well then, Neeko Use Fire Spin!" Arc shouted pointing at Ampharos.

Neeko leaped forward and unleashed a powerful Fire Spin attack that surrounded Ampharos in a wall of flames. Unfazed Ampharos used Thunder Punch to break the wall and charged after Neeko. He rolled out of the way to dodge, but was caught off guard by Ampharos's tail which slammed down on Neeko's back. Neeko growled in pain, but got back on his feet and retaliated by using Slash. Ampharos tried to deflect attack by using Thunder Punch, but to no avail. Neeko being smaller and more agile maneuvered around and landed Slash on Ampharos' back. It squealed in pain then unleashed a powerful Thunder Attack. The bolt of electricity struck Neeko exploding and leaving scorch marks all over his body. Feeling the after effects of the attack, Neeko struggled to even move.

Slowly regaining his mobility, Neeko tried to use Dragon Rage, but sneezed in the process. The sneeze clamped his mouth shut and Dragon Rage exploded in his mouth knocking him out of the fight. Arc went slack jaw that he lost due to a sneeze.

"What the fuck just happened? Did he just sneeze himself out of the fight? Arceus bless you Neeko" Clif laughed as he returned Ampharos.

Arc tried to ignore Clif and carried Neeko off to the sidelines.

"You did fine Neeko. Just rest now" Arc said with a comforting voice. "Snow Storm you're up now!"

Snow Storm flew forward and waited for Arc's command. Clif smirked and sent in his Gengar which gave a menacing laugh.

"Use Silver Wind!" Arc shouted.

"Counter it with Night Shade" Clif responded.

Both Pokémon fired their attacks and they met with an explosion. Gengar used the explosion's smoke to his advantage and darted towards Snow Storm. Getting as close as possible it fired another Night Shade at Snow Storm. Night Shade connected, but passed through harmlessly as Snow Storm vanished into thin air. Utterly astounded Gengar looked around and saw several copies of Snow Storm fluttering around.

"Ha! I bet you weren't expecting me to use Double Team! Now Psybeam, Snow Storm!" Arc shouted mimicking the menacing grin Clif always gives.

All of the Snow Storm copies fired and sent Gengar soaring. Recovering quickly, Clif had Gengar use Psychic. Gengar's eyes began to glow causing all of the copies to vanish and the real Snow Storm to be stopped in her tracks. Gengar wasted no time slamming her into the ground and following up with Focus Blast. The move hits and Snow Storm stood in a crater bruised and battered, but unwilling to go down.

"Stubborn little thing isn't she" Clif remarked.

"You have no idea Clif" Arc said darkly.

Snow Storm stood up tall and began taunting Gengar, Enraged by her gestures Clif ordered Gengar to use Poison Jab. It ran forward, its hand starting to glow purple. It came closer and closer intent on maiming Snow Storm, but she was ready for it. Waiting till the last second, Snow Storm fired a powerful Sleep Powder attack knocking Gengar out cold. She moved in and fired Psybeam repeatedly at Gengar knocking it in the pond. After a few seconds Gengar jumped out of the water and landed on the opposite side of the field from Snow Storm. They stared each other down waiting for their trainer's command. Both Pokémon were breathing heavily and looking worn out from fighting. Gengar then went wide eyed and fell on its face exhausted from fighting.

"Errrr" Clif growled returning Gengar to its Pokeball.

Arc congratulated Snow Storm on a job well done. She sat down completely exhausted and winked at Neeko smiling weakly. Neeko gave her a thumbs up and returned the wink showing his gratitude for recovering the fight.

Arc grabbed his third Pokeball and gave a deep breath. He knew it all came down to this and he had to work smart in order to beat Clif. Clif stood on the other side of the field spinning his final Pokeball on the tip of his finger.

"Now Steelix, break their will!" Clif shouted throwing his Pokeball.

Clif's Steelix towered over Arc and roared fiercely. He was more than terrified of the giant, but he knew he needed to focus.

"Alright Dino, let's go!" Arc shouted.

He threw the Pokeball and his new Salamence appeared on the field. It looked around confused as to what was going on around it. Looking back at Arc, Dino growled harshly and turned to face his opponent. Arc stared, wondering what got under his scales.

"Dino use Dragon Dance!" Arc commanded feeling empowered by his new Pokémon.

Dino just stood there and stared at Steelix. At first Arc thought maybe Dino didn't hear him so he tried again and called for Dragon Dance. Motionless Dino stood there and ignored Arc completely content with staring at Steelix.

"Fine! If he won't move, then I will! Steelix use Iron Tail!" Clif barked.

Steelix slithered forward and attempted to smack Dino with his tail. Dino suddenly rushed forward and clamped down on Steelix's tail shaking it violently. It roared in pain, but Dino refused to let it go. Lifting Steelix's tail Dino swung it around like a rag doll and sent it flying. Arc stared in awe as his Pokémon demonstrated its power. Steelix landed with a solid thud a fair distance from where Dino threw it. It turned to face Dino and fired a Dragon Breath attack.

"Dino dodge and use Flamethrower!" Arc commanded.

Dino dodged, but refused to fire and stooped low facing Steelix with a menacing glare. Wagging its tail, Dino jumped from side to side and smacked Steelix upside the head. Arc watched helplessly as his Salamence acted like it wanted to play more than battle and Steelix was the toy.

"Clif I forfeit. This is going nowhere fast and I can't get Dino to listen to me" Arc said glumly.

Clif agreed and they both returned their Pokémon. Arc was so excited to catch such a powerful Pokémon and its proving to be a disappointment so far. It refuses to listen and it acts more like a baby than a fully evolved Pokémon. He stared at the Pokeball wondering what to do when Clif approached.

"Look Arc. The best thing you can do is try and get to know Dino. I know that sounds strange coming from a total hard ass like me, but it's true. Understanding your Pokémon's traits and characteristics will improve your relationship with it. A word of advice however, I suggest you keep him in a Pokeball when you travel until you have a relationship comparable to the one you have with Neeko and Snow Storm" Clif stated.

"I understand Clif. Thank you for everything you have done to help me, but its time I head back to Vermillion City. I think it's time that I have a rematch with Lt. Surge to get my Thunder Badge." Arc said extending a hand.

Clif gave him a hearty hand shake and Arc started the long trek back down the mountain with Snow Storm and Neeko hot on his heels.

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><p><strong>Okay so Arc finally catches his 3rd Pokémon and its a real powerhouse. Too bad its got some behavioral issues. Please leave a review on what you thought of the chapter and I will get Chapter 12 up here soon.<strong>


	12. Chapter 12

**FINALLY! Chapter 12 is posted. I hope you enjoy and review if you see fit**

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><p><strong>Chapter 12: Searching for Answers and People<strong>

Taking the path he took up, Arc quickly made his way down the mountain side. He wanted to fly down the mountain side, but Dino wasn't having it. When Arc tried to jump on his back, Dino would whip him with his tail and use Hydro Pump at Neeko and Snow Storm to keep them at bay.

"I know Clif said I need to get to know Dino, but he won't even let me near him" Arc complained looking at Dino's Pokeball.

It took him the rest of the day to get down the mountain, and he decided to rest for the evening at a clearing near the edge of a small brook. He let Dino out to let him get some fresh air. He figured if he couldn't get near him, he could at least let Dino watch and see how the rest of the Pokémon got along. As he set up camp for the evening, Arc noticed that his backpack was missing. Looking over, Arc noticed that Dino was chewing on his pack and eating all of the food he had on him.

"Arceus dammit Dino! That food was supposed to last until we got back to Vermillion City!" Arc screamed watching him eat the last of the food.

Dino belched and curled up in a ball promptly falling to sleep. Arc slapped his face and sighed. He knew Saffron City was only a few miles or so north of here so he decided to go there in the morning to restock on supplies before going back to Vermillion City. He trudged over and snatched his pack from underneath Dino's foot before bedding down for the evening. It was going to be a long night since they didn't get to eat before Dino got ahold of the bag.

He woke the next morning with a start. Looking up in the sky he saw Dino flying around doing loops and spirals roaring jubilantly. Arc shook his head and packed up his stuff before putting Dino in his Pokeball. Neeko and Snow Storm looked at each other and sighed. They knew that Arc was going to have a hard time training Dino and they wanted to help, but there was nothing that they could do.

Arc made it to Saffron City before noon and immediately went to the Pokémon Center for breakfast. As he walked in the door, he found the resident Chansey bandaging a Hitmontop that was pretty badly beaten up.

"Excuse me Chansey. Do you know where I can go to get something to eat?" He asked.

Chansey pointed towards a restaurant across the street that had a sign "Breakfast served all day". Excited by the idea of food, Arc thanked Chansey and sprinted over to the restaurant dodging the road traffic. Before going inside, he put Neeko and Snow Storm in their Pokeballs since they were not allowed inside. He walked in and asked for a window seat in the non-smoking section. The waiter led him to his seat and much to his surprise he had an unobstructed view of a battle field that was in the park. Arc was perfectly content watching the different battles while he ate.

He watched several one on one battles, but his personal favorite one was a battle between a young girls' Quilava and a Hitmonlee. Not only was their battle ferocious, but the way she handled her Quilava was a sight to behold to say the least. She easily beat the Hitmonlee without her Pokémon getting as much as a scratch. The Hitmonlee's trainer took off shouting something before he disappeared. The rest of his meal was rather monotonous and quiet. After he finished, he paid and went to go shopping so he could feed his starving Pokémon.

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Meanwhile back in Cerulean City:

"Did Nurse Joy have any information on that boy?" Beau asked sitting next to her brother's Dragonite and Flygon outside the Pokémon Center.

Thorton trudged out of the Pokémon Center with his hands shoved in his pockets. He jumped up on Dragonite's back and looked at his sister with a grim look.

"He isn't here anymore. Nurse Joy said she remembered that a similar boy left a while ago and was headed to Vermillion City to get the Thunder Badge" Thorton grumbled.

Beau hopped back on Thornton's Flygon and they took off towards Lavender Town. Silence permeated the sky as they flew towards their destination.

"So do we know what this kid's name is and why are we going to Lavender Town? Didn't you say that the kid was headed towards Vermillion City?" Beau asked reining Flygon closer to Thorton.

"According to Nurse Joy the kid's name is Arc and I figured that he may have stopped in Lavender Town before going to Vermillion City" he replied.

They flew for several hours when Beau noticed that it started getting dark.

"Thorton. I am going to find us a place to bed down for the evening. Wait here until I return" She shouted veering off to the left.

Thorton nodded and stopped Dragonite waiting for Beau to return. She landed and jumped off Flygon throwing one of her Pokeballs. Standing in front of her was a rather large blue and white dog that had a large head crest and a billowing purple cloud like cape. She jumped on its back and pointed towards the forest.

"Alright Suicune lets go. Flygon follow us from the air!" She shouted spurring her Suicune into a quick sprint.

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With his Pokémon well fed and his shopping finished Arc retired to the Pokémon Center for the rest of the day. He left Neeko, Dino, and Snow Storm in Nurse Joy's care for the night since they were out for almost three weeks without a checkup. He chuckled to himself "_Maybe Nurse Joy can give Dino an attitude adjustment while she's at it_", but no sooner than he thought that, he heard crashing and the sound of shattering glass from the back room. Jumping to his feet he sprinted towards the ER waiting area dreading what he might find.

Upon entering, Arc had to immediately dive and dodge Dino's large tail swinging at him. Looking around, he found that the ER was destroyed by Dino's rampaging tantrums. Nurse Joy was standing in front of Dino trying to calm him down, but it wasn't working. He stared intently at her and opened his mouth firing a Flamethrower attack. Arc then jumped in front of Nurse Joy and ended up getting torched by the attack. He fell to the floor dazed and charred coughing up smoke.

"Dammit Dino will you just calm down! No one is going to hurt you here!" Arc shouted struggling to get to his feet.

Dino stopped thrashing and looked at Arc intently. They stared each other down, Arc trying to get some insight into what could have driven Dino over the edge like that. Dino smiled and threw Arc by the collar of his shirt. He landed with a thud and got back up to face him once more. Chansey then walked up and used Sing promptly putting Dino to sleep.

"I apologize for his behavior Nurse Joy. I just got Dino yesterday and we don't get along very well yet. I honestly do not know what the issue is" Arc bowed apologizing.

"Things like this happen. I don't think that Dino was trying to be mean at all" Nurse Joy replied smiling.

Arc looked at her confused. Dino just destroyed the entire ER and she is smiling and saying its fine. It would be an understatement to say that Arc was surprised. He looked back at Dino who was still under the effects of Chansey's lullaby.

"Dino was just playing with us. He just doesn't know his own strength yet. Chansey and I will clean this up, why don't you go on and relax" She added before picking up a tray of medicine.

Arc nodded and left his Pokémon and the wrecked ER in Joy's hands. Exhausted and battered from the ordeal Arc flopped on the bed and dreamed of the day he would be flying on Dino's back seeing the world as only a flying Pokémon can.

Arc woke the following morning sore from being thrown and scorched by Dino, but determined to make the most of today. Running downstairs Arc gathered up his Pokémon from Nurse Joy and went to go give his parents a call. It's been awhile and he was excited to tell them about his new Pokémon whether he listened or not. He waited as the phone rang and was relieved when his mother answered the phone.

"Hi Mom!" Arc said excited to see his mother.

"Hey there honey! How is everything? Where are you? " She shrieked.

"I'm doing well Mom. I am in Saffron City right now and I have something I want to show you and Dad" Arc said with a slightly giddy tone.

Arc's mother put the phone down and went to grab his dad. She returned a few seconds later and put the phone on speaker.

"What did you want to show us sport" His father said with an excited expression.

Arc grinned slyly and pulled a Pokeball off his belt and tossed it releasing Dino from its Pokeball. His parents went wide eyed as they beheld Arc's new Pokémon.

"You actually caught that!" His mother bellowed.

"Yes I did" Arc responded proudly

They then started bombarding him with questions eager to know how he obtained Dino. He started by explaining his loss at the Vermillion City Gym and how Nurse Joy recommended that he go and meet a friend of Lt. Surge that lived in the mountains. He then told his parents about how he met Clif and his training under the militant old codger.

"It took me nine days of continuous training to get as far as I am now, but I am really grateful that I met him. Even if he was a grump at times and swore like a sailor, he saw mistakes that I was making that I didn't even know about" Arc continued.

He then followed by explaining the final day that he was on the mountain and how Team Rocket attacked him in an attempt to steal Snow Storm. He told his parents about how Clif snapped and sent his entire team after them beating them to a pulp.

"Then after he gave Team Rocket a beating we heard a roar come from the cabin. We took off towards the cabin and found Dino wrecking the place. We were able to trap it in a cage made of ice and that's when I took the opportunity to catch him" Arc said finishing his story.

"Wow. It sounds like you have been having a grand time out there. So what moves does Dino know?" His father asked.

"Currently he knows Flamethrower, Hydro Pump, Dragon Dance, and Dragon Claw. He's an absolute power house dad, but I can't get him to listen to me. All Dino seems to want to do is goof off. I swear he's worse than a small child" Arc complained glaring at Dino who was busy trying to chew on a stone bench.

His mother and father stared at Dino. They knew he was bummed out, but they also knew that he had to figure this out himself.

"I know how you feel hun. I went through a similar issue with one of my Pokémon, but we are not going to tell you how to fix this" his mother said flatly.

Arc stared at the video screen disheartened by the fact that his parents were not going to help him. He started to protest when his father abruptly interrupted him.

"Arc you are old enough to figure this out. You said it yourself that you can work with any Pokémon as long as you see them as a friend and not a tool. However, we will give you a small piece of advice" His father said.

Arc listened carefully. He knew that his parents didn't usually hand out advice like this very often, so he needed to make sure he gave them his undivided attention.

"A Pokémon's actions will reveal everything".


	13. Chapter 13

**Well here is Chapter 13. I hope you guys enjoy.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 13: You say you're Invincible<strong>

**Chapter 13: You say you're Invincible**

Arc sat down in front of the video phone and reflected on what his dad said before hanging up. "What did he mean by _a Pokémon's actions will reveal everything_" he thought. All Dino is revealing to him at the moment is that he wants to eat a concrete bench.

"Hey Dino will you knock it off, you're not going to have any teeth left if you keep chewing on that bench" Arc said rolling his eyes.

Dino then stopped what he was doing and looked at Arc and started walking toward him. He then did something that Arc never expected him to do. He started rubbing his head against Arc's side as if wanted something or was apologizing for what he did to him. Arc went to pet him, but Dino pulled his head away and acted like he didn't care about him.

"Okay… Either you want something from me or you want to be friends with me, but just don't trust me yet" Arc said watching Dino who was staring at Snow Storm.

Snow Storm fluttered around and tried to land on Dino's head, but he kept ducking and spitting flames trying to keep her at a distance. Arc walked up and shooed her and Neeko away from Dino.

"Leave him alone will you" Arc said.

Arc then returned Dino to his Pokeball and walked outside over to the park where people were battling yesterday. He figured he would get a little practice in before going to challenge Lt. Surge again. As he walked over there he noticed that the girl he saw yesterday was there, but she was battling with a different Pokémon than before. He pulled out his Pokedex and scanned it.

"Dewgong. The Sea Lion Pokémon. This Ice/Water type can easily resist extreme cold" the Pokedex beeped.

In his eyes the girl's Dewgong was one of the most beautiful Pokémon that he has ever seen. Its pure white body glistened in the morning sunlight and it looked like it could glide through the water effortlessly. The girl was currently in a battle with someone else, her opponent reminded him of the guy she faced yesterday. He wore all purple and was battling with another Fighting type. It was clear that she was dominating the battlefield even though she was at a type disadvantage.

"I thought you said that you guys were invincible" The girl said.

The guy wearing purple snapped his fingers and two more guys dressed like him jumped out from behind nearby trees and released their Pokémon. One of them was the guy from yesterday. Their Pokémon surrounded her Dewgong and readied to attack.

"We are invincible because when you battle one of us, you battle all three of us. Now use Dynamic Punch Hitmonchan" The guy said smugly.

The lead Pokémon that was wearing boxing gloves and his two companions sprang into action and started attacking her Dewgong relentlessly. Throwing one punch after another they were beating the Dewgong senseless. Arc thought to himself "_Aww hell no!_" and he sprinted into the park. He knew time was of the essence and that there was no way that he would allow a gang to beat up on a lone trainer.

"Snow Storm use Silver Wind and Neeko Use Fire Spin. Keep them away from Dewgong" He shouted catching the four trainers by surprise.

Neeko and Snow Storm surged ahead of Arc and fired their respective moves encircling the gang's Pokémon in a wall of fire and battering relentlessly with Silver Wind. The lone trainer watched in wonderment as Arc attacked her assailants.

"Quickly get to your Dewgong. I'll hold them off" Arc shouted putting himself and his team between the girl and the purple garbed trio.

She nodded and ran to her Pokémon's aid. The Fighting types regrouped and the center trainer then spoke.

"Hey kid! You have no clue who you're up against. Get out of our way if you know what's good" the trainer said smugly.

"I honestly don't give a flying shit who you three are! You have no right triple teaming a lone trainer like that" Arc spat defiantly.

The three looked at Arc like he was a total nut case. He knew he was up against people who cared about their names and reputation so he decided to use one of Clif's tricks he learned and change his tactics.

"Okay. Maybe we got off on the wrong foot. A trio like you guys must be powerful and well known all over Kanto. What do you call yourselves?" Arc said changing to a more respectful tone.

The girl watched in disbelief. Here this random trainer swoops in and saves her from a brutal beating and now he is striking up conversation like he reveres her attackers. Arc turned and gave her an "okay" hand signal trying to let her know he had this under control.

"Huh. Well that's more like it. My name is Kim" the trainer said.

"My name is Kail" the second trainer he saw yesterday said.

"And my name is Kai" the third trainer said.

All three trainers then struck different poses.

"Together we are the Invincible Pokémon Brothers" They said together.

It took every fiber of Arc's being to not double over and laugh at the brothers. The fact that they struck a pose was enough to show him that these guys were jokes. As Clif said to him on the third day of training "Idiots tend to flock together".

"I want to see if you guys are as good as you say. So how about a battle?" Arc asked.

Kim stepped forward showing that he accepted Arc's challenge.

"Snow Storm you're up girl. Let's show them what we are made of" Arc said pointing at the battlefield.

She fluttered forward and landed on the field while Kim sent in his Hitmonchan. They both waited for an opportunity to attack when a gust of wind broke the silence on the field. Arc called the first attack and Snow Storm fired a powerful Silver Wind attack. Beating her wings furiously, she wailed on Hitmonchan. Kim responded and called for Dynamic Punch. Hitmonchan's fists began to glow and it charged forward swinging relentlessly at Snow Storm. She dodged gracefully and flew high in the air firing a Psybeam attack. The attack hit and Hitmonchan was sent flying.

" Invincible you say. The young lady behind me was correct in saying that you aren't very tough" Arc laughed.

"We are invincible! Now Kail and Kai!" Kim snorted.

Kail and Kai both threw Pokeballs and sent in their Hitmonlee and Hitmontop surrounding Snow Storm. Arc now understood how they were invincible. They would go and mercilessly outnumber their opponent causing them to either quit or get beaten down. Arc snapped his fingers and Neeko ran forward to support Snow Storm. The Dewgong's trainer then stood up and threw a Pokeball releasing a small blue Pokémon. Seeing the new Pokémon, Arc looked it up in the Pokedex.

"Totodile. The Big Jaw Pokémon. It uses its highly developed jaws to crush anything" it beeped.

The battle was now three on three and Arc had no intentions of letting these punks go. He looked at his temporary partner and she showed determination that rivaled Clif's when Dino attacked his house.

"Well it looks like the shit is going to hit the fan for you guys. Question is, are you going to duck or run through it?" Arc asked flipping Kim off.

The enraged brothers snarled and ordered a simultaneous Mega Kick attack. All three Pokémon ran forward and jumped aiming their right legs at Arc's team.

"Neeko use Smoke Screen and Snow Storm use Psybeam!" Arc shouted.

"Kappa use Aqua Tail" his partner shouted.

Neeko moved first and shrouding the whole team in a cloud of black smoke. Unable to see, the trio of Fighting types all missed and crashed into the ground. Snow Storm then took the opportunity and fired Psybeam hitting Hitmonchan and knocking it out cold. Kappa was on the other side of Neeko and used Aqua Tail knocking out both Hitmonlee and Hitmontop. Utterly defeated Kim, Kail, and Kai returned their Pokémon and took off in the opposite direction.

"You'll regret this someday" Kim yelled as they disappeared.

"Don't bet on it!" Arc shouted back.

Arc then turned around to see how the other trainer's Dewgong was holding up. What he saw wasn't pretty, for the Sea Lion Pokémon was covered in scratches, bruises and welts from its beating.

"Let's get it to the Pokémon Center quickly" he said putting a hand on her shoulder.

She nodded, returned her Dewgong and they both sprinted to the Pokémon Center. They arrived in no time flat and gave the Pokeball to Nurse Joy. She assured the trainer that her Dewgong would be fine. As Joy walked away, the trainer went to a nearby seat and slumped down sniffling and whimpering.

"Are you okay?" Arc asked sitting down next to the trainer.

She sat up and nodded trying to hide her red puffy expression. Arc knew that being attacked like that can be overwhelming. He remembered both his first battle with Team Rocket and his defeat at the Vermillion City Gym. He felt overwhelmed when battling Team Rocket and he felt utterly defeated when facing Lt. Surge.

"Sitting here and worrying about your Pokémon isn't going to help you. Why don't we go get some lunch? My treat" Arc suggested tapping her on the shoulder.

She nodded and walked with Arc over to the dining area at the center. They reached an empty booth at the center's cafeteria taking their seats quietly. While Arc looked at the small menu, he decided to break the silence once more.

"So. What's your name? I never had the chance of asking you before" Arc asked hoping to cheer the trainer up.

"My name is Lillian or Lily for short. What's your name?" She asked wiping tears from her eyes.

Arc introduced himself then decided to strike up some normal conversation with her.

"You have some very unique Pokémon. Have you been traveling very long" He asked.

"I have been traveling for three years with my Pokémon" I started my journey back when I was thirteen. How about you?" Lily responded.

"I actually just started my journey. I have only been with my Pokémon for about a month and a half or so. Wait… you're sixteen?" Arc said raising an eyebrow.

She nodded confused by Arc's enthusiasm. He then explained that he was also sixteen.

"I started my journey late because for the longest time I didn't trust Pokémon. I was actually terrified by them" He then explained.

"Why were you terrified by them?" Lily then asked.

"Well back when I was eleven, I was shocked by a Pikachu when riding my bike home from school. It ended up frying my bike and now I have this electrical arc that occasionally jumps across the spikes on my hair" He explained.

She nodded understanding that an experience like that can be rather traumatizing for a young kid. Arc then explained how he saved a Caterpie during a blizzard and eventually got over his fear of Pokémon.

"Interesting. So do you only have the Charmeleon and Butterfree? By the way I have never seen a Butterfree like yours. Where did you get it?" Lily asked looking over to where Snow Storm was sitting.

"I have a Salamence nicknamed Dino as well. That there is Neeko and Snow Storm. Actually Snow Storm is an Orange Island Butterfree that I caught in a field near Pallet Town. She was the Caterpie that I saved during that blizzard" He said.

"That's amazing. I have six Pokémon myself. You already met Kappa my Totodile and Iceberg my Dewgong. I also have a Quilava named Smoke, a Krookodile named Waru, a Mightyena named Dusty, and an Altaria named Stratus" Lily said proudly.

Arc sat there in awe. He was a bit jealous that she had so many Pokémon and such powerful ones as well.

"Can I see your Salamence Arc? I have never seen one before" She then asked clasping her hands.

Arc hesitated at her request. He didn't mention the fact that his Salamence never listened to him or the fact that he saw him as a giant chew toy.

"Please" she said practically begging Arc.

Arc sighed pulling Dino's Pokeball off his belt and tossed it releasing the monstrous Pokémon. Dino roared triumphantly and grabbed Arc by the collar of his shirt shaking him like a rag doll.

"Wow! He is truly incredible, but what is he doing to you?" Lily asked puzzled by Dino's behavior.

"Dino… is… a bit… of… a child… at times… We… don't… exactly… get… along… well" Arc said as he was swung around by Dino.

Eventually Dino sent Arc flying and he landed in the fountain in the center of the Pokémon Center. Lily laughed at him thinking that was the most hilarious thing ever. She has never seen a Pokémon treat its trainer like a personal chew toy. Arc returned Dino to his Pokeball after jumping out of the fountain. He was completely soaked from the incident, but luckily Neeko was able to dry him off.

"We should probably go and see if Nurse Joy is done with Iceberg now" Arc said eager to change the subject.

She agreed and they both walked to the front desk. They found Nurse Joy waiting for them and she returned Iceberg to Lily promising that she now has a clean bill of health. Thanking her, Lily started heading for the door leaving Arc and Nurse Joy at the desk. Arc sighed and left the center as well. He was headed back to Vermillion City to try again for his Thunder Badge. He reached the city's main gate when he felt a familiar presence behind him. Turning around he saw Lily trailing him by a few yards. He turned to face her and gave her a single hand motion.

"You know if you want to travel together, its fine by me" Arc offered winking at her.

She smiled and caught up to him. Together they walked towards Vermillion City enjoying the friendship that they have built up together.

* * *

><p><strong>Now that Lillian (Lily) is traveling with Arc, I am going to take the time to post the Pokemon teams at the end of the story so we do not get characters mixed.<strong>

**Arc**

**(Neeko) Charmeleon: Fire Spin, Slash, Dragon Rage, Smokescreen**

**(Snow Storm) Butterfree: Psybeam, Silver Wind, Sleep Powder, Double Team**

**(Dino) Salamence: Flamethrower, Hydro Pump, Dragon Dance, Dragon Claw**

**Lily **

**(Kappa) Totodile: Aqua Tail**

**(Smoke) Quilava: Flame Wheel**

**(Iceberg) Dewgong**

**(Waru) Krookodile**

**(Dusky) Mightyena**

**(Stratus) Altaria**


	14. Chapter 14

**I would like to take this time to thank all of my reviewers for their support. It means everything to me that people will take time out of their day to give words of advice or thoughts on the book. As always I hope you enjoy the chapter. Well enough of that. Onward to Chapter 14!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 14: Redemption is at Hand<strong>

"Now Snow Storm use Psybeam and Neeko you use Fire Spin" Arc commanded as he orchestrated the mock battle.

It has been a few days since Arc and Lily started traveling together. Arc intended on having his rematch battle with Lt. Surge tomorrow and he was chomping at the bit to get there. While he trained, Lily was busy caring for her Pokémon along with Dino who was actually eating calmly. It bugged Arc, but two days ago when they stopped for lunch Dino started acting very different around Lily.

_"Alright guys let's stop here for lunch" Lily announced while dropping her bag._

_Arc agreed and without thinking of the repercussions let Dino out of his Pokeball. Dino immediately ran to Arc and shook him like a rag doll as usual. After he was finished with Arc, Dino turned to face Lily. He charged her with his mouth wide open, but much to his and Arc surprise she stood there. Dino stopped dead in his tracks when she put a hand out defiantly signifying that she wasn't going to back down. Dino then lowered his head in submission and allowed Lily to walk up and pet him_

Now Dino does whatever Lily wants and listens to her completely except if she tells him to stop his antics and work with Arc. In those instances Dino often just stares at him like he is hell bent on making Arc's life as miserable as possible.

"Hey Lily, do you need any help getting dinner ready?" Arc shouted from the field he was training in.

She shook her head signalizing that she had everything under control. He waved back and continued his training session. Lily watched and found Arc to be an interesting guy. He was rash and unpredictable on the battlefield, choosing Pokémon without any thought for type matching, but going off his gut feeling instead. At the same time however, he thought of his Pokémon and others before himself. She remembers him telling her about what happened with Dino and how he ended up taking a Flamethrower attack in order to protect Nurse Joy.

Arc then approached with Neeko and Snow Storm right behind him. They were breathing heavily and covered in bruises from their training. Lily watched as he walked past her and got Oran berries out of his bag and tossed them at Neeko and Snow Storm. He also tossed one at Dino who snatched it out of the air.

"They have had enough for today I think. I don't want to push them too much since we are going to face Lt. Surge tomorrow" Arc said sitting down next to Lily. "I know I already asked you, but are you sure you don't need any help?"

"No I am fine. You need to focus on tomorrow's match and it's almost done anyways" Lily replied.

Arc shrugged and watched her work. She was wearing a forest green dress that went just below the thigh on one side and past her knee on the other. The sleeves on the dress were extra-large and draped flowingly off her wrist. She wore her bronze colored hair back in a pair of long ponytails. Her brown boots were rugged and had orange accents on them that separated the boot from the sole of the shoe.

"You know, we have been traveling for a few days now, but we hardly know anything about each other. I mean I would like to know about who I am traveling with, how about you" Arc stated sitting back up accepting a bowl from Lily.

"Yeah I guess so. So… what would you like to know about me?" Lily questioned sipping the soup she had.

"Well how about we give some basic information about ourselves. We already know are ages, but how about home town, birthdate, favorite color, and a hobby of ours to start with. I will start. I am from Pallet Town, my birthday is January thirty-first, my favorite color is cyan, and I love fishing" Arc said stuffing his face.

"Okay, I am from Mahogany Town, my birthday is January twenty-third, my favorite color is lime green, and I like to swim" Lily replied.

Going back and forth, the two kept sharing details about themselves and telling stories late into the evening.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.- .-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The next morning was a flurry of activity for Lily and Arc. They accidently overslept after staying up too late, and now they had a bigger issue. Dino decided to pick a fight with a wild Aggron who was not all that thrilled with being attacked. The two heavy weights started going at it, putting Arc in the middle as he did his best to get Dino's attention.

"Dino, come get me! *Whistles*" Arc shouts desperately to get his attention.

The wild Aggron then charged at Dino making Arc leap out of the way before getting trampled. They collided with a thunderous sound throwing grass and dirt as they struggled to get an edge over each other. At first it seemed like Dino had the advantage, but that changed when Aggron was able to get underneath Dino and knock him over. Dino tried desperately to get back on his feet, but was getting clobbered by Aggron's Iron Tail attack.

Knowing that Dino wouldn't listen to any verbal commands, Arc rushed in and jumped on Dino's belly protecting him from the vicious attack. Lily watched in awe for Aggron immediately stopped attacking for a second.

"You'll have to go through me to get to him" Arc shouted putting his arms out to protect Dino.

Dino watched in amazement as his trainer did everything in his power to keep him safe. The Aggron then growled and resumed his attack knocking Arc clear across the field and charged after him. Lily ran to get Arc out of the way, but she was too far to reach him. Dino looked at Arc lay there unconscious and went into a mad flurry of rage. Getting back on its feet Dino fired a Hydro Pump that startled Aggron to say the least and made it stop its charge at Arc. Attack after attack, Dino was able to chase the Aggron away. He then ran over to Arc who was being held by Lily. Neeko and Snow Storm stood next to Arc as well watching Dino carefully. Under normal circumstances Dino would grab him by the collar and shake him, but not this time. Dino instead put his head down and nuzzled Arc trying to wake him up letting out small whimpers and growls.

Arc woke up about an hour after the incident at the Pokémon Center. His eyes slowly fluttered open to see Neeko, Snow Storm, and Dino standing over him with intense gazes. He then sat up with a start and looked at Dino with a surprised look.

"What the hell happened? Last thing I remember, I was trying to stop an Aggron from pulverizing Dino" He stated putting his hand on his head.

Neeko and Snow Storm tried to answer him by acting it out. Neeko acted angry and was doing mock attacks at Snow Storm. She then retaliated, firing mini Psybeam attacks at Neeko who ran away. Then they both pointed at Dino who stared at Arc with a toothy grin.

"Wait a minute! You two are telling me that Dino beat the crap out of the Aggron trying to protect me!" Arc said with amazement.

"It's true. I don't know how to exactly explain it, but your actions must have reached Dino in ways that I can only imagine" Lily said reentering the room with a cup of tea.

"That's amazing boy! Does that mean you fully trust me now?" Arc got to his feet slowly approaching Dino.

Dino nuzzled Arc affectionately before withdrawing his head. He then gave Arc a wryly smile and shook him by the collar like he used to, but without as much force as before.

"I guess old habits die hard" Lily laughed.

Dino then put Arc back down and the whole group left the center. The arrived at the gym within a few minutes and Arc made sure he put Dino back in his Pokeball before going inside. He found Lt. Surge sitting in the lobby reading a magazine and challenged him to a battle.

"Well it looks like the baby has returned boys. This time he brought his girlfriend with him" He laughed.

Lily blushed a bit looking over at Arc who was giving Lt. Surge a cold stare.

"Cut the crap Surge. First of all while I do admit she is attractive, Lily is not my girlfriend. Second are you going to accept my challenge or not and this time let's make it a three on three match" Arc spat.

Lt. Surge was taken aback a bit. He didn't expect Arc to have such a sharp tone, but he then smiled and accepted Arc's challenge. Lily stood there completely dumbstruck and thought "_Did he just say that he found me attractive? Either the heat of the battle is getting to him or it's just me because we just met. How on earth can he find me attractive already...? Well now that I think about it, he is kind of cute and he obviously will do anything for those he cares about…_"

"Are you coming Lily?" Arc shouted waving her down.

She trotted up to him and took a seat on one of the benches behind him. Lily then stated that this was the first Gym battle that she has ever watched. Arc gazed at her in amazement.

"You have been a trainer for three years, and you have never seen a Gym battle?" Arc asked.

She nodded and replied stating that she just wanted to travel and see the world. Arc understood what she meant. She was still looking for a dream or passion to follow. Lt. Surge took his place on the other side of the battlefield and sent in his Raichu to lead the fight.

"Okay baby! Choose your Pokémon!" He taunted with a snarky tone.

Arc did his best to stay calm. He knew that Surge was testing him under pressure and it was part of a psychological game he would play. Deciding to ignore Surge's antics he sent Snow Storm into the battle. She nodded and stepped forward glaring at the Raichu.

"Ha! I guess we are going to have a repeat of last battle" Lt. Surge laughed.

Arc kept ignoring him and called for a Psybeam attack. She flew forward and fired aiming at Raichu's head. Using the same maneuver as before Raichu used his tail to block the attack. He then followed with Thunderbolt which Snow Storm dodged using Double Team. Lt. Surge was a bit surprised since that worked last time. Flying with grace Snow Storm countered with Silver Wind buffeting Raichu and causing him to stumble. Without missing a beat she used Sleep Powder knocking Raichu out cold. Lt. Surge struggled to get a handle on the situation. With Raichu asleep he couldn't call any attacks or use any psychological moves. Arc laughed and commanded Snow Storm to finish it off with Psybeam. She flew up close and fired Psybeam at close range sending Raichu flying and knocking it out of the battle.

"Raichu is unable to battle, Butterfree is the winner!" The judge shouted waving his flags at Snow Storm.

Arc praises her for a job well done and calls her back to the sidelines. As she fluttered back Neeko jumped up and gave her a high paw before running out on the field. Lily watched astounded by the level of friendship Neeko and Snow Storm have, "_They act like siblings_" she thought and continued to watch the match. Her excitement was through the roof because not only was this the first gym match, but it's also the first time she has seen Arc participate in a serious battle. His passion for battling was astounding and a bit inspiring.

"Go Magneton" Lt. Surge threw his Pokeball enraged by his Raichu's loss.

Arc looked at the Pokémon at a loss of words on what to make of it. It was made up of three spheres each having two screws and magnets. It hovered above the ground staring at Neeko with a blank expression.

"Magneton. The Magnet Pokémon. This Electric/Steel type uses heavy gravitational power that allows it to float, and it can emit powerful magnetic and electric fields" Arc's Pokedex beeped.

For the first time in a gym battle, Arc's Pokémon had a type advantage and he planned to take full advantage of it. He called for a Slash attack pointing at Magneton. Neeko sprang forward with glowing claws and slashed at Magneton. It sat there and withstood the attack completely unfazed. Arc then swore to himself "_That was dumb move. Normal type attacks don't affect Steel types that much_".

Magneton and Lt. Surge then used Arcs hesitation to their advantage. Moving gracefully Magneton started glowing as it powered up for an attack. It then fired a mysterious beam of electricity at Neeko. Arc looked up the move learning that it was called Charge beam. Neeko managed to jump out of the way and retaliate with Fire Spin. Splitting its body three ways Magneton dodged the attack and fired Charge Beam again, but this one looked more powerful than the last one.

"Watch out Arc! Charge Beam has a chance of raising the Attack power of the Pokémon using it" Lily shouted from the sidelines.

Arc nodded and told Neeko to dodge it. Moving tactfully Neeko was able to get out of the way of the attack for the most part, but his right arm was caught in the line of fire. Holding his arm close Neeko did his best to make the pain subside and fired Fire Spin at the floating Magnet Pokémon. Magneton split once more dodging the attack and immediately followed up with Thundershock. Neeko was able to dodge once again, but just barely. His arm was proving to be a hindrance in his agility. Neeko moved away from Magneton trying to put some distance between them.

"Neeko use Smoke Screen!" Arc shouted trying to buy time for Neeko.

Black smoke billowed from Neeko's maw blinding the Magneton. It looked everywhere, but was unable to see where Neeko was.

"Now Fire Spin once more!"

Neeko fired under the cover of the smoke hitting Magneton dead center. It fell to the floor down, but not out of the fight. Getting back up it followed up with Discharge clearing the smoke leaving Neeko exposed. Glaring at Neeko, Magneton then fired Charge Beam for a third time intent on taking Neeko out of the battle. Unable to dodge Neeko fired Fire Spin, but there was something different about it. Instead of it being a swirling vortex, it was a blazing stream of fire similar to Dino's.

"Arc, I think Neeko is using Flamethrower!" Lily pointed out.

Flamethrower hits home, and knocks Magneton clear out the field and out of the match as well. Lt Surge glared at Arc and Neeko as he returned Magneton. He was sure that this would be a cake walk, and not him struggling to stay on his feet.

"Well done baby! You have trained your Pokémon well, but I still have one more Pokémon in store. Now Electivire go!" Lt Surge shouted.

Lt. Surge's last Pokémon was much larger than his previous two. Its massive shape was intimidating to say the least, but Neeko didn't want to back down. Arc understood that he wanted to continue the fight and called for a Flamethrower. Neeko fired, but much to his surprise Electivire blocked the attack with only its hands.

"You're going to need a bigger flame to do anything to this Pokémon! Now Electivire use Thunder Punch!" Surge commanded.

Electivire sprinted forward quickly and hit Neeko dead center sending him flying. Knocked back from the sheer force of the attack, Neeko laid there dazed and unable to move.

"Charmeleon is unable to battle! Electivire wins!"

Arc ran out on the field and scooped Neeko up in his arms. He praised Neeko for a job well done and handed him over to Lily.

"Watch him for me please. *Whistles* Snow Storm, feeling up to going again!" Arc shouted sending her into the battle.

She flew on the field and faced the Electivire. Her eyes narrowed and she fired a powerful Silver Wind attack. Electivire side stepped the attack and rushed her with clenched fists. Electivire then jumped and hauled off using a double Fire Punch on Snow Storm knocking her out of the battle just as quickly as Neeko. Arc ran out and got her as well and sat Snow Storm on the bench right next to Neeko. He praised her and walked back towards the field. He plucked the third Pokeball off of his belt and held it up.

"You know Lt. Surge I actually have to thank you" Arc stated as he stared at the Pokeball.

Both Lily and Lt. Surge looked at Arc confused.

"You see, after our last match I went to the mountains near Saffron City to train. While I was there I met someone who helped me with my training and catching my third Pokémon. Because of this, there is no way I can lose to you! Now Dino let's go!"

Arc threw the Pokeball with all of his might and Dino appeared on the field. The Dragon Pokémon roared exuberantly and faced Electivire. The two heavy weights started each other down. Arc was apprehensive of how Dino was going to behave since this was their first battle and Dino has never wanted to listen before. "_I hope this works_" he thought to himself.

"Dino use Flamethrower!" he shouted with confidence.

Dino snarled and reared up and firing a massive torrent of fire at Electivire. Standing its ground Electivire used Fire Punch to deflect the attack. It then sprinted towards Dino and used back to back Thunder Punches on Dino. Dino roared with pain and flew up in the air using Flamethrower. The attack hits home knocking pushing Electivire down to one knee as it struggles to withstand the attack. Dino was then commanded to use Dragon Dance. Flying with rhythm Dino started to glow red feeling the effects the move had on his body. He picked up speed and used Flamethrower once more. Electivire dodged and used Thunderbolt clipping Dino's wing. Dino fell into a spiraling dive from the attack and crashed right behind Electivire.

"Dino use Hydro Pump"

Dino responded firing Hydro Pump at Electivire's back. The move connected sending Electivire flying into the adjacent wall. Recovering from the shock of the attack Electivire got to its feet and taunted Dino.

"You are going to have to do better than that if you want to beat me baby. My Electivire is one of the best out there. Alright Electivire use Dynamic Punch" Lt. Surge laughed.

Electivire ran forward with white glowing fists attempting to hit Dino. Dino responded using Dragon Claw and the moves collided with explosive force. The dust cleared showing Dino and Electivire locked in a stalemate each one trying to get the better of the other. Dino tried to use Hydro Pump, but was blocked when Electivire used its other hand to push Dino's head up and cause it to rain.

"Electivire use Thunderbolt!"

"Dino get out of there now and use Flamethrower!"

Dino disengaged from Electivire just as it fired Thunderbolt and used Flamethrower to counter. The moved caused an explosion that blocked everyone's view of the field.

"Is it over?" Lily asked apprehensively, her whole body shaking from the intensity of the battle.

The smoke cleared and both Lt. Surge and Arc were astounded by the results. Dino was hovering in the air and Electivire was laying on the ground knocked out cold. Arc thought about it for a second when he thought "_That Hydro Pump must have caused Thunderbolt to backfire_" Arc then looked at the field and saw that it was completely soaked from Dino's attack that Electivire deflected.

"Electivire is unable to battle! Salamence wins and the victory goes to Arc the challenger!" the judge announces.

Arc leaped for joy and ran out onto the field to give Dino a hug. Instead of a hug though Dino roared triumphantly and shook Arc by the collar of his shirt. Lt. Surge walked up to Arc who was still in Dino's mouth and held out his hand.

"Well done Arc! You did well out there today. I hereby award you with this. A Thunder Badge."

Arc happily accepted the badge and pinned it to his collar along with the other two badges he had. Lily then approached and congratulated him on his victory.

"Thank you Lt. Surge. I really enjoyed our battle today. We better get going now" Arc stated heading towards the door. "By the way, Clif sends his regards"

Before Surge had a chance to respond, Arc and Lily left the gym and headed back to the Pokémon Center with Dino, Neeko, and Snow Storm hot on their heels. All three of his Pokémon needed and deserved some relaxing time. When they reached the center, Arc gave all of his Pokémon to Nurse Joy and then joined Lily in the commons area. He started reading Trainer's Weekly magazine when Lily caught his attention.

"Arc we need to talk" She stated flatly.

Arc stopped reading and looked at her with a quizzical expression.

"What did you mean when you said you found me attractive?"

* * *

><p><strong>Oh boy! Lily has Arc on the ropes. How will he deal with her question?<strong>

**Arc**

**(Neeko) Charmeleon: Flamethrower, Slash, Dragon Rage, Smokescreen**

**(Snow Storm) Butterfree: Psybeam, Silver Wind, Sleep Powder, Double Team**

**(Dino) Salamence: Flamethrower, Hydro Pump, Dragon Dance, Dragon Claw**

**Lily**

**(Kappa) Totodile: Aqua Tail**

**(Smoke) Quilava: Flame Wheel**

**(Iceberg) Dewgong**

**(Waru) Krookodile**

**(Dusky) Mightyena**

**(Stratus) Altaria**


	15. Chapter 15

**As always I thank you for your support. I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 15: All Aboard!<strong>

"What did you mean when you said you found me attractive?"

Arc stiffened at the question turning redder than a Tamato berry. Last thing he was expecting was her to ask a question concerning his views on her appearance.

"I… uh… um… Well it's like…" Arc stuttered desperate to find the words.

Lily giggled at Arc finding his struggle rather amusing. Here is a trainer that's fearless on the battlefield, but freaks out about a question concerning a girl's appearance. Arc tried to dodge the question, but she wasn't going to let him slide. When he tried to leave stating he needed to check on his Pokémon, she grabbed his wrist and made him sit down.

"You know they are fine with Nurse Joy now will you please settle down. It was only a question" Lily giggled putting her hand on him.

He stiffened once more and blushed. He knew deep down that he did find her rather attractive. She had a nice personality, she was strongly independent and let's face it she did look above average for a sixteen year old girl. Arc would be lying to himself if he didn't at least admit that.

"*sigh* Alright I will admit it. I do find you attractive. You have a charming personality, you're strongly independent, you obviously care about those you are close to, and you're incredibly smart." Arc said hoping that he answered her enough to end the discussion.

She thought about what he told her. He sounded sincere about what he said, but it was obvious that he was hiding something from her. She pressed him for details on the matter, but he refused to go any farther with the subject.

"Why do you want to know all of this?! We just became friends a few days ago, and on top of that we hardly know each other" Arc stated in his defense.

"I was just curious. No one has ever said that about me before now" She replied.

Arc sighed relieved that he was able to answer her enough to avoid any more talk of the topic, but he feared that she wasn't finished with him yet. Then the intercom buzzed for Arc to come get his Pokémon. Not wasting a moment he darted over to the front desk happy to see that everyone was in good health. Neeko and Snow Storm were content with giving Arc a hug, but Dino decided that a hug wasn't enough tackling Arc to the ground.

"Thanks you guys for all of your hard work. With our third badge, we are well on our way to the Pokémon League. By the way, does anyone know where the next gym is?" Arc asked extricating himself from underneath Dino.

"Well you have a couple of options Arc. You can go to the gym in Celadon City, Fuchsia City, or Saffron City." Lily pointed out.

"Wait… There's a gym in Saffron City and we passed it up?!" Arc complained

"That's where trainers go to earn their Marsh Badge. Unfortunately Sabrina hasn't been around for a while. I suggest you take a ship to Fuchsia City and then come up Cycle Road to Celadon City." Nurse Joy announced walking out from behind the front desk.

Arc thanked her and looked over at Lily asking if she was ready to go. Lily nodded and the group walked out of the Pokémon Center. Once outside Lily paused and looked over her shoulder to see all three of Arc's Pokémon out of their Pokeballs. She sighed and continued walking next to Arc.

"Aren't you going to put Dino or any of your other Pokémon back in their Pokeballs Arc?" She asked nonchalantly.

"Nah. After Snow Storm and Neeko showed no interest in going in their Pokeballs back in the field by Pallet Town, I decided that I would keep my Pokémon out of their Pokeballs as often as possible. In know it's weird in this day and age to have a large group of Pokémon follow you, but I think it's healthier for them to be out of their Pokeballs since they get to exercise and experience the world like we do." Arc explained looking back at his Pokémon.

Neeko and Snow Storm were currently hitching a ride on Dino's back playing and enjoying the warm weather. Lily watched as well and sighed.

"Well, I guess I can see your point there, but you do realize that you're your Pokémon are going to draw a lot of attention being out all of the time. I mean look at what happened to Dino when he attacked that Aggron." she replied.

Arc saw her point as well. He knew that they could possibly draw unwanted attention, but at the same time both Neeko and Snow Storm showed no interest in going back. Sighing he resolved the issue by telling her that what his Pokémon want stands above all else. He then turned to his Pokémon and put their Pokeballs on the sidewalk.

"I am going to give you three a choice. If you would prefer to travel in your Pokeball then pick it up, but if you want to stay out and travel then roll it towards me" Arc stated flatly.

Neeko was the first to answer Arc by rolling his Pokeball towards Arc signifying that he wanted to stay out, while Dino on the other hand picked his Pokeball up. Arc then took Dino's Pokeball and had him return. Snow Storm stared at her Pokeball unsure of what to do.

"There is no pressure Snow. Only you can decide."

Snow Storm thought about it for a second longer and then rolled the Pokeball towards Arc making her decision final. Arc then picked up their Pokeballs and continued walking.

"Now that we solved that issue, shall we continue?" Arc said whistling while he walked.

Lily looked at him and smiled thinking "_Arceus he's a smart ass, but at least he is the funny kind of smart ass"._ Lily immediately caught up to Arc and they continued their trek to ship yard to Fuchsia city.

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"Thorton it's been two weeks since we left Cerulean City. Arc has probably gotten his third badge and is on his way to whatever city is next on the list for him" Beau snapped.

Thorton and Beau were currently situated at the top of Lavender Town's Pokémon Tower watching the north road. Thorton had a feeling that the kid he searched for would certainly come this way before heading to Vermillion City. Unfortunately he was off a little bit for Arc actually swore off visiting Lavender Town completely.

"Well if that is the case Beau, where do you think we should go?" Thorton sneered at her.

Seething with anger Beau got up and whacked Thorton across the back of the head. He turned to face her, fists clenched, but what he saw wasn't her anger, but fear.

"I think we need to head home. This is nonsense that you are chasing some kid around in hopes of him helping you get revenge on Hunter J. I mean how do you he is going to help you?"

"I don't know Beau! But I am desperate for help" he retorted.

Beau sighed at her brother. He was really letting their cousin eat away at him.

"Look if you really want to stop her Thorton then I suggest this. Offer the police an offer they can't refuse. You tell them that you can be an informant for them on Hunter J and any other criminal organization, and in return the charges against you dropped" She suggested hoping to get Thorton to change his mind.

He sat there and thought about her suggestion. Weighing the pros and cons Thorton saw some merit to her idea. Smiling her jumped up and hugged Beau tightly telling her that she was the best. Beau scrambled to break free of his iron grip gasping for air. He put her down after a second or two and threw two of his Pokeballs releasing Flygon and Dragonite.

"I like your idea, but we are going to reach out to the police here in Kanto. They will arrest me on sight if I went to the police in Sinnoh. Also, I still plan on tracking that Arc kid down. Even if we don't ask him for help I still want the chance to battle him" He commented jumping on Dragonite's back.

She agreed with his terms and hopped on Flygon's back. They then rushed down to the street flying fast and low towards the police station. When they reached the station Thorton walked up to the door and swung them wide open while Beau followed in suit.

"Officer Jenny this is your lucky day! I am about to make you an offer you can't refuse" He shouted as he paraded in recklessly.

She looked up from her desk and eyed up Thorton suspiciously as if she knew who he was. She then looked at the wall and saw his picture on the Wanted board and went wide eyed. Slowly standing she threw her Pokeball releasing a Luxray and pointed her sidearm at Thorton's chest. The Luxray growled sending electric currents up its legs into its mane.

"Put your hands up slowly Thorton! I hereby arrest you for trespassing, plotting to commit a crime, poaching, and breaking an entry" She shouted with a demanding tone.

"Alright there is no need for that, I am turning myself in"

Officer Jenny lowered her piece and slowly walked up to Thorton, but paused when he raised his hand.

"However before you arrest me, will you at least hear out my proposal?" He said with a mischievous smile.

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Arc and Lily were looking out on the deck of a massive cruise liner that was scheduled to go to Fuchsia City. Looking over the side of the ship Arc saw that the name of the ship was the St. Claire. He watched the waves roll and break on the ship's bow. After looking for about twenty minutes he then walked back from the rail taking a seat on one of the recliners and looked at the different Pokémon flying by.

"How on earth did you manage this Lily?" He questioned her with amazement.

"It was quite easy actually. You see these people were hand out raffle tickets for a chance to get two free one way rides to Fuchsia City by ship and I won the raffle. From what I heard, this is a one week cruise around the southern edge of Kanto to Fuchsia City" She replied.

Arc then kicked back smiling at the idea of having a week's vacation to himself. Recently his travels have been rather demanding on his body and he was getting sore. He was also sure that his Pokémon were in need of some relaxation as well, but he also knew he had to start preparing for his next gym battle in Fuchsia City.

"Ladies and Gentleman may I please have your attention. The open exhibition battles are about to begin on the third floor in areas C1–C12" An announcer stated over the intercom.

Arc perked up a little and looked over at Lily smiling mischievously. Knowing what he was about to do she grabbed his arm and held him down.

"You said you wanted to let your Pokémon relax! I don't think battles are a part of relaxing Arc" She shouted.

"Well since these are only exhibition matches my Pokémon will more than likely come out of the battles unharmed. After all this is just a chance to show off your power as a trainer" He replied.

Neeko and Snow Storm jumped up and took off towards the stairs leaving Arc and Lily in the dust. Noticing their enthusiasm, Arc was not about to deny them the chance and took off after them. Lily sighed and followed in suit knowing full well that once Arc sets his mind to something, he is usually hell bent on doing it. They reached the designated battle areas in no time flat and started to mingle with the other trainers. Arc was overwhelmed with all of the different Pokémon he saw and started scanning them with his Pokedex. As he looked at a Pokémon the Pokedex called Smeargle he saw something that made his jaw drop, from a distance it reminded him of an unarmored Aggron with a different skin color to it. The Pokémon was tall, stood on its back legs, and had a menacing drill like horn on its nose. Holding his Pokedex up he scanned the creature.

"Rhydon, the Drill Pokémon and the evolved form of Rhyhorn. Its large horn gives it formidable attack power and its rugged hide protects it from even the heat of lava. However, the hide also makes it insensitive" It beeped.

Arc then saw the Rhydon's trainer come into view. He looked as if he was younger than him by a few years. He sported teal and orange shirt, grey pants, and he wore an orange single strap backpack that looked similar to Arc's. The most striking feature on the trainer was his white and blue hair. The hair split into three points and it reminded Arc of Lugia's crest from when he watched a documentary about it.

The trainer locked eyes with Arc and he felt the sudden desire to want to battle this kid. He walked up to the strange trainer and shook his hand asking him his name.

"The name is Thorn. What's yours?" the trainer responded.

Arc introduced himself and proceeded to challenge Thorn to a one on one battle. He gladly accepted boasting about how good of a trainer he was. Arc snickered to himself walking to his side of the field. An announcer then stepped forward and had all the other patrons clear the area in preparation for the battle. Thorn then threw a Pokeball releasing his Rhydon.

"Okay Savage lets go" he shouted.

"Now Dino I need your help" Arc shouted throwing his Pokeball.

Dino and Savage stared each other down neither one of them moving. Dino snarled at Savage baring his teeth and Savage did the same. Then all of a sudden Savage's tail twitch and Dino shot forward on command.

"Dino use Dragon Claw" Arc shouted

"Savage counter it with Take Down" Thorn responded.

Both Pokémon rushed each other with their respective moves colliding into each other like a pair of freight trains. They pushed and shoved each other trying to get an edge. Rhydon then got low and started inching underneath Dino's belly. Arc then had a flash back of Dino's fight with the wild Aggron and how it was able to get under Dino causing him to fall on his back.

"Quick Dino bite Savage's horn and roll backwards" Arc shouted.

Dino managed to get a firm grip on Savage's massive horn and began to fall backwards into the roll. As he fell back Dino pushed his back feet into Savage's gut sending him flying across the field. The crowd stared in amazement as they watched the two heavyweights duke it out. Savage roared with rage getting back on his feet facing Dino. Dino smiled and readied for the next assault.

"Savage use Power-Up Punch. Put that oversized lizard down" Thorn commanded.

Savage's fist then began to glow with an orange and white hue as he charged at Dino. Dino stood still waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Savage was just about to hit Dino when he swung around hitting Savage's legs knocking him to the ground. Dino then followed with a Hydro Pump forcing Savage to the far side of the battle field.

"*Whistle*. This battle is over. I declare Salamence the winner!" the announcer states.

Arc praised Dino for a job well done petting the spines on the side of his head. Thorn then walked up and glared at Arc. He looked back at Thorn knowing full well that something was going to happen. He didn't know what, but something was about to be said.

"You must have cheated during that match. Savage had you on the ropes during that whole match before you tricked him" Thorn stated flatly.

"What do you mean I cheated? It was only an exhibition match and Dino did not trick your Rhydon" Arc said confused by Thorns words.

Their argument started getting more intense with every passing second. Thorn claimed that Arc cheated when Dino threw Savage by biting his horn and when he knocked Savage off balance with his tail. Arc on the other hand was claiming that he was only using a strategy he learned when battling an Aggron. Finally Lily stepped in settled their petty dispute.

"Arc did not cheat during that battle. He used the situation to the best advantage he could and ended up on top" She said.

Thorn glared at her and started to stalk away when he turned to face them once more.

"Next time we battle things will be different. I expect that you will be able to hold your own next time. Let' try to not to bring your girlfriend into the picture" he stated and then stalked off into the crowd and out of view.

Arc's cheeks started to sting when he heard Thorn say girlfriend. He looked over at Lily and she had a similar look on her face as well. They briefly made eye contact before averting their gazes focusing on random objects in the ship. After a few minutes Lily decided to break the silence.

"So he seemed to be a real handful there. You do realize that you just made a rival out of him" Lily stated.

Arc nodded and they left the battle area and went back to the deck. They sat there and watched the sun set over the horizon. Arc found the sound of the waves rolling against the ship's hull rather relaxing to listen to. He closed his eyes imagining himself sitting on a beach when a commotion from above caught his attention.

"Come back here you fucking snake! Let's see you try to swindle me like that one more time" said a mysterious voice.

Arc and lily both looked up and listened to what sounded like fighting and furniture being thrown around. All of a sudden some poor sap and his Magikarp were launched over the side of the ship into the water.

"If I ever catch you on this ship you're finished you hear me!" said the mysterious voice once more.

The crew was then bustling with activity for an hour after the incident. Word on the ship was that some salesman tried to rip someone off and ended getting tossed off the ship by some old codger. Now the ship's crew are detaining him in private security and taking him back to the mainland. Arc and Lily decided that they were going to head to their private cabin until the activity died down a bit. They didn't feel like taking the chance of being caught in the crossfire of that mess.

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It was around 7 pm before the crew finally got the unruly passenger off the ship and back to the mainland. Once they knew the coast was clear, Arc and Lily made a mad dash for the banquet hall hoping to make it in time for dinner. Luckily dinner was only starting and they found themselves a nice quiet table to sit at towards the back of the hall. Lily sat down and realized that Kappa let himself out of his Pokeball watching him take off after Neeko and Snow Storm.

"You know. I think you were right about keeping your Pokémon out. It seems Kappa is much happier out of his Pokeball" Lily smiled admitting that she was wrong.

"It seems I have made a believer out of you" Arc said triumphantly.

After they ordered their meals, Arc noticed that there was a backpack on one of the other chairs and after he recognized the bag his mood hit rock bottom. He shuffled back to his seat and looked at Lily.

"Were going to be in for an interesting meal" Arc said glumly.

"Why is that?".

"I think that the bag on that seat over there belongs to Thorn" Arc stated slamming his head on the table.

At that very moment Thorn walked up to the table and took his seat. He looked over glaring at Arc once he made eye contact with him. Lily shuddered slightly knowing that the situation could possibly turn ugly

"Oh. You're here" he stated putting a sarcastic emphasis on the "you're".

"Look Thorn will you just cut the crap with that that battle and let it go. It's not like we were at the Indigo Plateau Finals" Arc stated getting annoyed with his antics.

Thorn mulled it over and finally agreed to drop the whole issue. He then picked up a more polite tone starting a decent conversation with Arc and Lily. They talked for a few hours learning about each other. It turns out Thorn is only thirteen and he has been out traveling for about the same time Arc has. Actually it was about a week less than Arc.

"So what kind of Pokémon do you have?" Arc asked.

"I have a Pikachu who is currently sleeping in my cabin, a Vulpix, and you have already met Savage my Rhydon. How about you, what kind do you have?" Thorn stated.

"Actually you have already met my entire team. Dino is in his Pokeball, and Neeko and Snow Storm are over there watching the waiters work" Arc answered pointing at Neeko and Snow Storm who were with Kappa.

While they talked, Neeko, Kappa, and Snow Storm decided to chase one of the waiters into the back room where the kitchen was. Looking around they watched the cooks go about their business. Snow Storm was particularly interested in watching one of the chefs who was making some sort of pasta dish. The chef noticed her hovering over him and he offered her a taste of what he was making.

Just as she about to try it the ships lights went out. Kappa clung to Neeko who had the only source of light on the ship. Everyone in the ship looked around trying to figure out what's going on. Arc noticed several shadows moving behind him creeping and stalking around as if they were Ghost types. He whirled around releasing Dino and calling Neeko and Snow Storm to his side. The hall's spot lights suddenly flickered on revealing two figures posing on the stage.

"Prepare for trouble... and make it double! To infect the world with devastation! To blight all people in every nation! To denounce the goodness of truth and love! To extend our wrath to the stars above! Cassidy! and Butch, of course! We're Team Rocket, circling Earth all day and night! Surrender to us now or you will surely lose the fight!" the figures said.

At that very moment the ships lights turned back on and all of the passengers were surrounded by Team Rocket agents and their Pokémon.

"We have the ship completely surrounded. Now surrender all your Pokémon over to us immediately" Cassidy shouted using a microphone.

Team Rocket agents then started pilfering the Pokeballs from the trainers. A few of the trainers tried to fight back, but the vast majority either handed them over crying or they had the Pokeballs ripped out of their hands. Four of the agents then surrounded Lily and Thorn in an attempt to steal their Pokeballs. Thorn glared at the assailants while Lily cowered slightly showing that she was terrified of the situation.

"Now use Flamethrower!" said a familiar voice.

A wall of flames suddenly appeared surrounding Thorn and Lily protectively and they turned to see Arc and Neeko battling the Team Rocket agents. His eyes burned with a mad fury like Lily has never seen before. He attacked Team Rocket ferociously, not even giving them the chance to run. Watching Lily must have made something inside Arc snap and now all hell is breaking loose.

"Use Silver Wind" He shouted.

Snow Storm rushed in and fired her attack scattering agents like papers in a windy office. Other trainers watched in awe as Arc relentlessly repelled the attackers. Lily then threw a Pokeball releasing Smoke and commanded him to use Flame Wheel. Smoke rolled around in fiery ball of flames charring anyone that got in his way. Other trainers started getting involved and together they pushed Team Rocket outside on the bow of the ship.

"Dino grab the bags of Pokeballs" Arc shouted.

Dino along with a Fearow, Staraptor, and Tropius started dive bombing the deck of the ship snatching the large bags filled with Pokeballs. Utterly defeated Team Rocket jumped over the side of the ship and made their getaway on motorboats and a group of Sharpedo.

"Retreat! We will regroup and plan our next attack on the St. Anne!" one of the grunts shouted as he escaped.

Arc along with the other trainers who's Pokémon snatched the Pokeballs back started handing them back to their respective trainers. Many gave Arc a simple thanks or gave him a hearty handshake, but occasionally he would get a hug from a very emotional trainer. Once all of the Pokeballs were given out Arc was rushed by Lily who tackled him into a big Ursaring hug. He gasped for breath try to break free of her iron grip.

"Hey you two love birds. We have an issue here" Thorn said watching them in revulsion.

Arc and Lily scrambled to get up at the sound of love birds and walked over to Thorn. Thorn stood there holding one of the bags open. Arc reached in the bag and went wide eyed as he pulled out a Pokeball. He examined the Pokeball and all he could find on it was a small name plate on it that said "Mimzy".

"No one claimed it. We asked everyone and for some reason this one doesn't belong to anyone on the ship. I can't take care of another Pokémon right now and I don't know what to do with it" Thorn said.

"Well I guess I can take it for now since Lily has a full team. I guess we should find out what's in it" Arc replied.

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><p><strong>Thorn was the final main OC to be introduced in the story. How will this upstart trainer play a role in Arc's development? What is the true nature of Arc and Lily's relationship? Finally what is the mysterious Pokémon left behind by both trainers and Team Rocket?<strong>

**P.S. If you like my story and would like to see your own characters make an appearance in the story shoot me a PM.**

**Arc**

**(Neeko) Charmeleon: Flamethrower, Slash, Dragon Rage, Smokescreen**

**(Snow Storm) Butterfree: Psybeam, Silver Wind, Sleep Powder, Double Team**

**(Dino) Salamence: Flamethrower, Hydro Pump, Dragon Dance, Dragon Claw**

**Lily**

**(Kappa) Totodile: Aqua Tail**

**(Smoke) Quilava: Flame Wheel**

**(Iceberg) Dewgong**

**(Waru) Krookodile**

**(Dusky) Mightyena**

**(Stratus) Altaria**


	16. Chapter 16

**Well on most occasions I would apologize for leaving you with a cliff hanger, but your reactions were priceless. Well now that I have tortured you with that cliff hanger, here is the next Chapter.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 16: Tough Actions and Tougher Feelings<strong>

"Well let's see what is in this mysterious Pokeball" Arc said.

He threw the Pokeball on the deck and in a flash of light the Pokémon appeared. Arc didn't even get the chance to identify the Pokémon before he was met with a swift kick from a set of hooves. The Pokémon then started bucking around the deck with its fiery mane blowing in the ocean breeze. Lily and Thorn did their best to try and contain the Pokémon on the deck of the ship, but it wouldn't let anyone near it. Jumping back to his feet Arc pulled out his Pokedex and identified the Pokémon.

"Ponyta the Fire Horse Pokémon. Its mane is made of intense flames and with hooves ten times harder than diamonds it can trample anything completely flat in moments".

Arc then noticed that the Ponyta was wearing what appeared to be a halter and a set of cloth bags around the base of its neck. He tried to approach the Ponyta, but once again it tried to kick him in its panic state. Having no choice, he returned the Ponyta and took it to the ship's Pokémon Center. They quickly ran to the center on the ship and gave the Pokeball to Nurse Joy.

"Nurse Joy this Pokeball was left behind when Team Rocket attacked earlier. Is there any way we can tell who it might possibly belong to?" Arc asked handing the Pokeball to Nurse Joy.

She stared at the Pokeball and then put it on some sort of machine. The Pokeball started glowing with a blue hue and a ton of numbers and results started popping up on the screen.

"Oh my! It seems that this Pokeball is unregistered and doesn't have a trainer" She said.

"Wait… then is it abandoned?" Lily asked.

"Obviously" Thorn mumbled rolling his eyes

"Either it is abandoned or the owner of the Pokeball has a decommissioned trainer card. I am guessing that it was a decommissioned trainer card being that it came from Team Rocket" Nurse Joy explained.

She handed back the Pokeball to Arc and asked if he would like to claim the Ponyta. He nodded and she then registered the Pokeball under his name making him the official owner of the Ponyta. Arc then went to a holding arena and let the Ponyta out of its Pokeball again. Ponyta immediately started bucking and romping all over the place. He tried to calm the Fire Horse Pokémon down, but nothing was successful. He then remembered the name on the ball Ponyta came in.

"Easy Mimzy. Easy girl. No one is going to hurt you" He said approaching it slowly.

"How do you know that Ponyta is a girl?" Thorn shouted from the rail.

"Does he really need to state the obvious Thorn?" Lily barked knocking him upside the head.

Thorn fell over dazed from Lily striking him on the head while Lily put her attention back on Arc. He cautiously approached Mimzy, or at least he assumed that Ponyta's name was Mimzy since she calmed down at the sound of the name. He finally got close enough and was able to pet Mimzy on the shoulders and neck. He noticed that she was holding up one of her front leg as if it was painful to put any pressure on it. Scooping up the leg he found a large stone shard embedded in her ankle.

"Lily, go and get Nurse Joy. Mimzy has a stone shard in her ankle and Thorn get over here! Help me get her off of her feet and on the ground." He shouted.

Thorn jumped over the rail to help while Lily dashed off to go find Nurse Joy. Thorn ran to where Arc was standing and held Mimzy's leg up. Arc then handed Thorn a thick cloth and told him to cover his face.

"Snow Storm use Sleep Powder"

She fluttered over Mimzy and used Sleep Powder making Mimzy sleepy, but still conscious. Her legs started to buckle under her while Arc pushed her side making her fall to where her injured leg would be up. Nurse Joy then arrived with a pair of Chansey ready to operate on her leg. Thorn scrambled to get out of the way letting Nurse Joy in so she could do her work. Meanwhile the Chansey held down Mimzy's legs and neck doing their best to restrain her. Arc was about to leave as well when Nurse Joy stopped him.

"I need you to stay here. Talk to her with a soothing voice while I get this shard removed. She may injure herself further if she panics and starts thrashing" She pleaded.

Arc nodded and stayed by Mimzy's head stroking her muzzle and speaking softly. Her eyes showed great pain and she would shudder every so often in an attempt to kick. It took Joy well over an hour to properly remove the shard and get the leg stitched up, but when it was all over with Mimzy didn't have the same look of pain in her eyes that she had before. Nurse Joy wrapped up Mimzy's leg with a gauze wrap and motioned to Arc that she was going to try to get her back up. After they got Mimzy back on her feet, they put her in a full body sling to take the weight off her leg until it recovered.

Nurse Joy then put the shard in a plastic vial and was about to pocket it when Arc stopped her.

"Do you mind if I have that please?" Arc asked.

Nurse Joy handed him the shard and started to walk away. She instructed him to keep Mimzy here until the cruise was over.

"She should be recovered by then, but keep her here until it's time to leave" Nurse Joy stated.

She left, leaving Arc, Thorn, and Lily with Mimzy. Arc sighed and thought to himself "_So much for relaxing on this cruise_". He then untied the bags from Mimzy's neck and tossed them next to his backpack. Lily asked if he was going to open it, but he shook his head and yawned. He was too tired from today to show any interest in the bags. He laid down on one of the couches nearby and promptly fell asleep. Neeko and Snow Storm climbed up there as well finding places to sleep. Dino on the other stood guard next to the arena gate watching for any potential threats. Thorn went back to his cabin and retired for the evening. Lily sat down next to Dino watching out for anyone who would disturb Arc and Mimzy.

"You know Dino we're pretty lucky to know him. Arc is quite the unique individual if you really think about it. He was willing to put himself in danger to protect all of us from Team Rocket during that attack today. I have never seen such ferocity out of him before when attacking an opponent" She said quietly. "It's almost like he has dealt with them before. Not only that, but also just adopted this Ponyta when he could have left it in Nurse Joy's care. He would make a fine catch for any girl wouldn't he Dino?"

Dino looked down at her growling in approval. He then wrapped his tail around her protectively and put his head down on her lap. Lily started petting his head when she suddenly found herself blushing.

"Arc's passion for battling is amazing, but his protective nature over those he cares for is even more amazing. I don't know what he was feeling during that battle, but it was obvious he found some drive to repel that attack on his own. On top of that I noticed that I have been tripping over myself when I am around him. It's almost like I am entrance by his aura. Maybe when the time comes I will ask him out as my boyfriend. My only hope is that he had the same feelings for me" She stated as she slowly drifted to sleep.

Arc laid on the couch peacefully but deep in thought. Unknowingly to Lily he was still awake and heard everything she said to Dino. "_It seems to me that Lily is starting to develop a crush on me. Well luckily I am having feeling for her as well. I showed the determination that she saw earlier because she was in danger. I would never let any harm come to my family or friends, but there is something about her that makes me very attracted to her. Don't worry Lily I have every intention of sharing your feelings. I'm just going to bide my time until you make the first move_" he thought as he also drifted to sleep.

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After that first night Arc was a flurry of activity on the ship. He spent most of his time in the ship's Pokémon Center caring for Mimzy along with his other Pokémon hardly taking a break to relax at all. Even Thorn couldn't get him to slow down and just enjoy the ride.

"Arc you are going to have a spaz attack if you keep up this pace. I mean you spent every waking hour of your days here working your ass off with Mimzy and the other Pokémon. Why do you take a break? Nurse Joy will take care of her" Thorn stated holding a couple of sodas.

"Nurse Joy has a whole host of duties to take care of. I think taking some time to care for my Pokémon isn't too much to ask for. I mean they did win three badges for me" Arc retorted.

He dropped a bale of hay near Mimzy and sat down to wipe the sweat off his brow. Thorn continued to make different points about why he needed to take a break, but Arc wasn't having it. He continued to care for his Pokémon with the same amount of intensity and passion as before.

"Just leave him alone Thorn and let him do what he wants. Why do you think he was able to beat you the first day we were on the ship? He knows his Pokémon inside and out, what they are capable of, their abilities, and on top of that he believes in each of them. You should have seen him when he worked with Dino" Lily stated snatching one of the sodas from his hand.

She walked over to Arc and watched what he was doing. He was sitting on the bale of hay holding up Mimzy's leg. Reaching down he grabbed a bottle of gel like substance and poured it on her hoof.

"What are you doing?" Thorn asked.

"Polishing Mimzy's hooves. I read that it's good to do every so often to keep a Ponyta's feet healthy" Arc said rubbing a soft cloth on her hoof.

Later on that day Arc decided he needed a break for a while. He walked out on the deck of the ship and found Lily and Thorn.

"Well look who finally leaves the barn!" Thorn shouts sarcastically.

Lily then whacked him upside the head and waved at Arc.

"How's Mimzy?" She asked.

Arc told her that Mimzy was fine as he leaned against the rail and sighed.

"Did you ever look in that bag that was around her neck?" Thorn asked with a hint of excitement.

Arc shook his head and removed his backpack tossing the mysterious bag at Thorn. Catching the bag, he undid the rope and peeked inside. Thorn suddenly gasped and gave the bag to Lily who also shrieked. Curious, Arc reached in the bag and pulled out a couple of strange looking stones.

"What are you two gasping at? It's just some rocks" Arc said looking at one that had a leaf impression on it.

"Arc these are Evolution stones. These are rare and very valuable to trainers who have Pokémon who can only evolve using one of them. Some good examples would be Vulpix and Eevee" Lily stated.

Arc went wide eyed at what she said and motioned for both Thorn and Lily to follow him. They all then went back to the privacy of their quarters and dumped the bags on the table. Moving the stones around Arc was able to organize the stones so they could have a clear view of what they were dealing with.

"Okay… We have Fire Stones, Thunder Stones, Water Stones, Leaf Stones, Dusk Stones, Moon Stones, Sun Stones, Shiny Stones, Dawn Stones, Everstones, and… What the hell are these" Thorn said picking up a few perfectly round orbs.

Arc took two of the orbs and examined them carefully. The first one he looked at was incredibly small. About the size of a marble if he had to compare it to something normal. The other one was a bit bigger and weighed as much as a cue ball off of a pool table.

"I think these stones are related somehow" Arc said holding the stones up in the light.

"What makes you say that?" Lily asked.

Arc showed them that the stones had similar symbols in the middle. He then put all of the stones except one back in the bags and put them in his backpack. He stated that he was going to hold onto them so he could find out more about the stones. He then turned to Thorn and tossed him the stone that he left out.

"Why did you give me this?" He stated staring at the stone.

"Well didn't you say you had a Vulpix? Go ahead and have it evolve if you want" Arc stated.

They went back out on the deck and Thorn let his Vulpix out. Having never seen a Vulpix before Arc looked it up in the Pokedex.

"Vulpix, the Fox Pokémon. Before evolving, Vulpix's six part tail can become as hot as a fiery blaze".

Thorn then got down on one knee and held out the Fire Stone in front of her smiling.

"Go ahead and touch the stone if you want to evolve Roxanne" He said.

"Roxanne?" Arc said looking at Thorn with a confused expression.

"Shut it Arc" he barked.

Lily glared at Thorn for his rude remark, but he didn't take notice. Roxanne cocked her head to the side and sniffed the Fire Stone. She then put her paw on the stone and both the stone and Roxanne started to glow with a bright blue aura. Her body shimmered and started to grow. Her tails grew longer and her head crest flowed outwards. As her body got taller, her frame and legs became slimmed and refined. Suddenly the aura burst from her and everyone gasped in awe of Roxanne's evolved form. She looked like a beautiful majestic cream colored fox. Her nine tails flowed in the breeze giving her a ghost like appearance. Once again Arc looked it up in his Pokedex.

"Ninetales, the Fox Pokémon and the evolved form of Vulpix. It has nine tails and a shining golden fleece. Ninetales are said to live very long lives. Each of its tails contains a different mystical power".

"She is gorgeous!" Arc shouted walking up to her to pet her.

Thorn then stopped Arc from petting Roxanne's head crest and then gave Lily the cold shoulder when she questioned his behavior. Thorn snarled at her practically telling her to flip off and she doesn't deserve an answer from him. Lily then glared at him pulling a Pokeball out of her shoulder bag.

"I am getting really sick of your Arceus damned attitude Thorn!"

Thorn turned around and glared right back her "My attitude! You are saying I have an attitude?!"

"Hell yes I am you sniveling brat!"

Arc noticed the tension building between the two and decided to back off a bit from them. He already knew that while Lily was usually as sweet as honey, she also has a nasty bite when someone got under her skin. Whistling he called Neeko, Snow Storm, and Dino to his side in case things got way out of hand between the two. Unfortunately only Neeko and Snow Storm arrived because Dino was too busy chewing on the steel railing on the ship to pay attention. Luckily Kappa showed up to take Dino's place. Lily and Thorn's argument got more heated with every passing second and then it finally turned into an all-out fight.

Thorn was the first one to act and sent Roxanne in to battle. Lily responded by throwing the Pokeball she was holding. The Pokeball snapped open and her Mightyena named Dusty appeared on the field. She growled reflecting the same amount of anger and revulsion that Lily had for Thorn.

"Use Flamethrower, Roxanne"

"Counter it with Dark Pulse"

Roxanne moved first, charging in at Dusty with her mouth blazing in preparation to fire. Dusty didn't wait and immediately fired Dark Pulse at Roxanne. Dusty's attack missed its mark though and Roxanne took the opportunity firing Flamethrower at point blank range. Burned by the flames Dusty's legs buckled underneath her and she fell to the floor in pain.

"Get up Dusty and use Crunch!"

Dusty jumped back to her feet quickly recovering from Roxanne's assault and bit down on Roxanne's front leg with glowing fangs. With Roxanne still firmly in her jaws, she then sent her flying across the deck and into the wall. Arc watched from the sidelines and got down on his knees whispering to Neeko "_This is why I am going to let her decide when to ask me out. I do not want to get on her bad side_".

The battle raged on between Lily and Thorn. Each one put as much hatred as they could muster into the match. Just as Dusty and Roxanne were going to finish each other off a powerful Water Gun and Flamethrower attack stopped them dead in their tracks splitting the field down the middle with a cloud of smoke. Arc, Kappa, and Neeko then appeared from the smoke blocking the Pokémon from attacking each other.

"This battle is over!" Arc shouted getting royally pissed with their behavior.

Lily and Thorn tried to ignore him at first and mounted another assault against each other. Seeing that his passive interference wasn't going to stop the battle, Arc leaped between the two Pokémon once more and was hit by both Roxanne's Flamethrower and Dusty's Dark Pulse attack. Lily gasped and ran up to Arc who was on the ground smoking from the attack's explosion.

"Arc, are you okay? Why would you do that?" She said frantically.

Arc spat and slowly got to his feet pushing Lily away from him. She retreated from his side shocked by Arc's sudden change in disposition towards her. Usually he would smile at her when she would check on him, but this time he pushed her away.

"I am disappointed in both of you. Using your Pokémon to solve your disputes is immoral to say the least" He lectured.

Thorn immediately went into his usual defensive position giving every excuse in the book to pin the blame on Lily. He claimed that if he didn't attack, she would have hurt him, but Arc shut him down quickly.

"I don't want to hear one fucking excuse from you Thorn. Go and take Roxanne to the Pokémon Center now!"

"But she started it!" Thorn protested.

"I'll deal with Lily! Go!" He barked.

Shrieking with fear, Thorn returned Roxanne to her Pokeball and took off like the Zubat from hell making sure not to piss Arc off any more than he already was. Seeing Thorn leave, Arc then turned his attention to Lily who was staring at him with solemn sorrowful eyes. He searched Lily for an answer to her behavior, but he couldn't see past her eyes. Lily then put her head down and started sobbing softly. She walked over to a bench and sat down putting her hands up to support and hide her face from Arc. He got the message that by him pushing Lily away that he hurt her feelings.

"Lily what drove you to do that? I mean, you didn't even go that far when you were facing those three idiots we dealt with in Saffron City?"

She didn't answer him at first and kept sobbing into her hands. He sat down next to her and put an arm around her waist pulling her into a sympathetic hug. She stopped for a second and looked up at him.

"I did it because I didn't like the way Thorn was treating you… I mean in the few weeks that we have traveled together, you have done so much for others. You stopped the Invincible Pokémon Brothers from beating up Iceberg, protected Dino from an angry Aggron, stopped Team Rocket from stealing our Pokémon earlier this week, and you adopted a Ponyta that you could have just left with Nurse Joy… It's kind of hard to watch some upstart trainer be demeaning to you after all of that" she replied with tears still in her eyes.

"I understand Lily, but still you can't go and do that. What if Dusty got really hurt" he replied giving her a soft cloth to wipe her eyes.

Lily accepted the cloth and stared at it wiped her eyes. She started stuttering her words as she continued to talk.

"That's not the only reason though Arc. My other reason is that… I... uh…. I'm starting to… *sigh*" She stammered.

"You are starting to what?" Arc asked curiously.

"*sigh* I think I'm starting to have feelings for you Arc. I can't explain it, but I feel as if you are unique and a bit alluring" She blurted quickly feeling embarrassed by her confession.

"I had a feeling you were" Arc said nonchalantly.

Lily stared at him in wonderment. She didn't have the slightest clue on how Arc could have known that she was crushing on him while he was gone or asleep.

"I heard you the night we found Mimzy when you were talking to Dino. I had a feeling that you had feelings for me, but I didn't want to rush things. So I was waiting for the day you would speak your feelings. I just didn't expect it to happen so soon" Arc said holding her tight.

She took comfort in his words wrapping her arms around his waist. They sat there for a while when the intercom buzzed.

"Ladies and gentlemen may I have your attention. Please grab all of your Pokémon and belongings and return to your cabins immediately. We will be arriving at Fuchsia City Port shortly."

Arc then returned Dino to his Pokeball and then rounded up Neeko, Kappa, and Snow Storm who were watching the waves. He then got up with Lily and they both started heading towards the Pokémon Center to pick up Mimzy before heading to their cabin. As they walked Arc thought to himself "_She never said she wanted to be my girlfriend, but it's a start_."

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><p><strong>Arc you are a sly dog! How will this chapeter affect their relationship? What will happen between Thorn and Lily? Stay tuned and find out.<strong>

**Arc**

**(Neeko) Charmeleon: Flamethrower, Slash, Dragon Rage, Smokescreen**

**(Snow Storm) Butterfree: Psybeam, Silver Wind, Sleep Powder, Double Team**

**(Dino) Salamence: Flamethrower, Hydro Pump, Dragon Dance, Dragon Claw**

**(Mimzy) Ponyta: Double Kick**

**Lily**

**(Kappa) Totodile: Aqua Tail, Water Gun**

**(Smoke) Quilava: Flame Wheel**

**(Iceberg) Dewgong**

**(Waru) Krookodile**

**(Dusky) Mightyena: Dark Pulse, Crunch**

**(Stratus) Altaria**


	17. Chapter 17

**Well Chapter 17 is finally here! It was quite a battle getting this chapter finished, (pun intended) but the wait is over. I hope you enjoy, and please do not forget to leave a review. Writers like myself thrive off of them and we love the feed back. **

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 17: Earning your Wings<strong>

"So what's your plan now Thorn?" Arc asked making his way across the dock.

"Well… I plan on training for a bit before challenging the next gym" He responded.

Arc, Thorn, and Lily have finally arrived at Fuchsia City Port and are now preparing to part ways. Luckily for Arc, Thorn and Lily settled their disagreement and are now tolerating each other to keep Arc happy.

"Well Thorn. Since we are parting ways, I have an idea I want to toss at you" Arc stated. "Let's meet at Cinnabar Island when we each have six badges and we will challenge the gym there together."

Thorn agreed with the idea and extended his hand waving as he left the port heading towards Route 18. Arc and Lily watched him leave and sighed. Their long trip was finally over and they made a new friend along the way, or at least Arc did. Shouldering his pack, Arc looked at Lily and put his arms out showing that he wanted her to go first. She smiled, but didn't start walking like he thought she would. Instead she grabbed Arc's hand causing him to blush and made him walk hand in hand with her towards town. Listening behind him, Arc heard Neeko, Snow Storm and Kappa snicker at Arc's situation. He tried to shoot them an angry glare, but it didn't work when she squeezed his hand causing him to blush even more.

Arc and Lily found the gym on the northern outskirts of town hidden away in a dense grove of trees. As they approached the gym Arc looked around and saw that the it had a more rustic feel than the other gyms he has been to.

"It reminds of a fighting dojo that I saw in a movie once." Arc said. "I wonder if they have Fighting type Pokémon here."

"You are correct in saying that the Fuchsia City Gym is a dojo" A mysterious voice said. "But we specialize in Poison type Pokémon"

Arc and Lily frantically looked around, but there wasn't a person in sight. The voice echoed over the entire gym, not allowing them to pinpoint the location.

"Welcome to the Fuchsia City Gym, young challenger. I await your arrival inside." The voice said again.

As the echoed voice dissipated, the gym's double doors slid open. Arc and Lily warily entered preparing for whatever it threw at them. As soon as they were both inside, the doors slammed shut with a resounding thud. Lily shrieked and hugged Arc's arm for comfort. As they made their way through the hall, Arc pointed out a couple of doors up ahead. They had no idea of what was behind the doors since there were no labels on them. Eyeing up the doors, Arc opened the one on the right and stepped in.

"Why do I feel weird all of a sudden and why is everything off balance?" Arc asked staring at the walls.

"It's a slanted room Arc. Look at the floor" Lily pointed out.

Arc looked down and saw that the floor was on a slant and it was throwing off his center of gravity. He hurried across the room and opened the next door eager to get away from the awkwardness that the room presented.

After wandering around for a while, running into trap doors full of Voltorb and glass walls, Arc and Lily finally managed to find what appeared to be the center of the Gym. They approached a lone figure that stood in a single beam of light at the end of the room.

"I've been waiting for you! I am Koga, Pokémon Master of the Fuchsia Gym" the person said.

"Oh so you're the Gym Leader" Lily said moving to the field's side lines.

"That is correct miss" Koga responded.

Arc feeling bold once more walked up to Koga and spoke sternly.

"My name is Arc and I challenge you to a gym battle Koga."

"I accept your challenge Arc. This will be a three on three Pokémon match with no substitutes" he stated.

Doing a backflip, Koga landed in the marked square behind him showing that he was ready to battle. Arc trotted over to his side of the field and stood ready to face his opponent. Koga pulled a Pokeball out of his sleeve and threw it.

"I will start with Venonat."

Koga's Pokémon appeared on the field with a flash of white. It reminded Arc of a small purple pom-pom with eyes and legs. He pulled out his Pokedex to identify it.

"Venonat. The Insect Pokémon. Its large eyes act as radar. In a bright place, you can see that they are clusters of many tiny eyes."

"Alright then, I'm counting on you Mimzy! Let's go!" Arc shouted throwing Mimzy's Pokeball.

Mimzy stood proud and tall facing Koga's Venonat with determination. With her nostrils flared, Mimzy pawed the ground showing that she was ready to battle. Arc nodded at her and was about to order an attack when Lily stopped him in mid-sentence.

"Wait a minute Koga, there is no one judging this battle."

Koga smiled and looked over in the direction of where the judge's stand was. Suddenly a young woman appeared out of nowhere and landed on the judge's square.

"Born in darkness, living in darkness, such is the fate of a ninja. I am Aya, ninja warrior and I will be judging this battle today between Koga the Gym Leader and Arc the challenger" Aya said aloud. "Battle begin!"

"Now Mimzy, use Agility!" Arc shouted pointing at the Venonat.

Mimzy's body started to glow and her shape blurred as she charged towards the Venonat. Arc hoped that by increasing Mimzy's speed that she would be able to outmaneuver any attack Venonat threw at her.

"Venonat use Poison Powder" Koga stated calmly.

Venonat started to shake violently spreading a purple pollen all over the field. Breathing in the pollen Mimzy came to a halt and reared up in pain. Refusing to let Mimzy get away so easily, Venonat then followed up with Poison Fang. Sinking its mandible deep into Mimzy's shoulders, the Venonat injected a toxin that poisoned her even more. Arc knew he would have to act fast or the poison would end up ruining his chance at winning this round. Watching the spores from Venonat's assault, Arc saw them sizzle when they touched Mimzy's fiery mane and it gave him an idea.

"Mimzy use Flame Charge" Arc shouted.

Her eyes narrowed and she began to stomp on the ground repeatedly creating a cloud of dust that completely hid her from Venonat's site. She then burst forward and charged Venonat surrounded in an orb of flames, but she missed when the Venonat dodged the attack. Spinning in the air Venonat began to shake again releasing Stun Spore.

"Mimzy use Flame Charge again and aim for that Stun Spore cloud"

Both Lily and Koga went wide eyed at Arc's command.

"Arc are you crazy?! Mimzy is already suffering from the poison that Poison Fang dished out, are you trying to paralyze her as well?" Lily shouted.

Arc ignored Lily's pestering and nodded at Mimzy telling her she could do it. Mimzy cringed violently trying to fight the poison and used Flame Charge straight at the Stun Spore cloud. As soon as she touched the cloud, it ignited causing a massive fireball that enveloped Venonat. Charred from the backfired attack, Venonat fell to the ground. Down but not out of the fight, it struggled to its feet and the two Pokémon stared each other down.

"It's time to finish this. Use Poison Fang!" Koga shouted.

"You're right Koga! Flame Charge, Mimzy!"

Venonat rushed at Mimzy hell bent on taking her out of the fight. Mimzy attempted to counter, but she was so tired from battling that she couldn't move. Venonat's attack hit and knocked Mimzy down to the ground and out of the battle.

"Ponyta is unable to battle, Veno…"

Aya stopped speaking and looked at Venonat who was thrashing wildly. It spontaneously burst into flames and was running around attempting to get away. The flames eventually ceased, but it was too late for Venonat fell to the ground exhausted from its thrashing.

"Both sides are unable to continue, I declare this match a draw" Aya shouted.

Arc and Koga returned their Pokémon, congratulating them on a job well done.

"Why did Venonat burst into flames like that? Flame Charge only raises the users speed, not burn the opponent" Arc questioned looking at Mimzy's Pokeball.

"It seems that your Ponyta has the ability Flame Body" Koga stated. "It's an ability that might burn your opponent if they make physical contact with you."

Noting what Koga said, Arc readied himself for the next round.

"My next Pokémon will be Golbat."

Koga then threw his Pokeball and released a very large blue bat. It fluttered around the field gnashing its teeth together eager to fight. Snow Storm fluttered over to Arc showing that she wanted to battle, but he knew that she would be a disadvantage in a fight against a Poison and Flying type like Golbat. So Arc decided he wanted something with a little more fire power behind it. He told her that he wanted her to sit this match out. Understanding Arc's point, she landed next to Lily and Kappa pouting all the while.

"Don't be that way Snow Storm. You know he's only looking out for you" Lily said trying to cheer her up.

Neeko then looked up at Arc with a questioning stare. He wanted to battle as well, but Arc put his hand out showing that he wasn't ready for him yet. Arc then plucked the other Pokeball off his belt and then winked at Neeko.

"Now Dino, Let's go!"

Arc released Dino from his Pokeball feeling confident in his choice. Dino eyed up the Golbat watching its every move. Flapping his massive wings, Dino roared and stomped on the ground showing off his power. Lily and Kappa cheered thinking that this was going to be an easy round for Arc since Dino is his most powerful Pokémon.

"Round two begin" Aya shouted waving her hands at the contestants.

"Supersonic, Golbat" Koga yelled pointing at Dino.

Moving with blinding speed Golbat's voice echoed through the room causing Dino a great amount of pain. He thrashed wildly and his pupils narrowed from the effects of the attack. Suddenly Dino charged forward, but he passed Golbat and started banging his head on one of the pillars in the gym

"Dino? What's wrong buddy?" Arc asked.

"He's confused Arc! Call him back to his Pokeball" Lily shouted.

Arc looked back at her, appalled by what she just said. He knew he couldn't do that because he would be disqualified from the match. Koga took the opportunity and called for back to back Wing Attacks. Flying low and fast Golbat hit Dino with white glowing wings repeatedly causing him to stumble backwards. Still confused Dino charged the pillars again causing massive amounts of damage to himself. Arc tried his best to get to Dino, but nothing was working. Smirking, Koga called for a Razor Wind attack.

"Come on Dino! Snap out of it." Arc roared in a final attempt to get to Dino.

Dino then snapped out of his confused state and dodged the Razor Wind attack. Moving quickly, Dino used Flamethrower at Golbat. Spinning to dodge, Golbat then fired Haze blinding Dino. Unable to fly out of it due to the gym's tight quarters, Dino attempted to run out of the Haze cloud. As soon as Dino was out of the cloud though, Golbat was waiting for him and used Razor Wind once more. This time it connected and knocked Dino to the floor.

"Don't give up Dino. Use Dragon Dance and then follow it with Dragon Claw."

Dino rose to his feet and did a spiral jump through the air causing his body to glow with a reddish hue. Golbat didn't bother waiting for Dino to attack, and used Wing Attack once more. Dino was ready though and reared up on his back feet exposing his belly to Golbat. It closed in on Dino ready to slice his belly with sharpened wings

"Now!" Arc shouted.

Dino claws started to glow and he dropped back on all fours crushing Golbat under his feet. Golbat laid there twitching, but unable to move.

"Golbat is unable to battle, the match goes to Salamence!" Aya shouted waving at Dino.

Arc ran out to Dino giving him a hug and praising him for a job well done. Koga returned Golbat and pulled his next Pokeball out. Looking over at Koga, Arc asked Dino if was still able to continue. Dino roared with affirmation slamming his tail on the ground. Arc took it as a yes and went back to his box ready for round three to begin.

"My final Pokémon will be Toxicroak" Koga said calmly.

He threw his Pokeball and released a large bipedal Pokémon that had two menacing red claws on its hands. It had a single horn on its head and a large red sack on its throat that pulsated every time it croaked. Arc looked it up in his Pokedex.

"Toxicroak, the Toxic Mouth Pokémon and the evolved form of Croagunk. The poison produced in its sacks is carried through tubes in its arms to its knuckle claws."

Arc knew that this Pokémon was going to be a lot tougher to beat than Golbat or Venonat, so he was going to go in fast and hard. Breathing heavily Arc started the match by calling for Hydro Pump. Dino fired and the high powered stream of water hit Toxicroak head on, but it didn't do anything to dodge. Confused, Arc watched as Hydro Pump did nothing to Toxicroak.

"Uh-oh… Toxicroak's ability is Dry Skin! Be careful Arc!" Lily shouted.

Arc nodded and turned to face the battle once more. Koga called for a Poison Jab attack hoping to cripple Dino. Still feeling the effects of Dragon Dance, Dino managed to dodge and use Flamethrower.

"Dodge and use Ice Punch." Koga said.

Doing a backflip, Toxicroak dodged the attack and struck Dino in the side of his face with a chilling punch. Falling to his side, Dino fainted from the force and effectiveness of the attack.

"Dino! Are you okay?" Arc shouted.

"Salamence is unable to battle! The match goes to Toxicroak."

Arc ran over to Dino and looked him in the eyes. Dino looked up and smiled weakly trying his best to reach Arc's hand for his praise, but he was unable to lift his head up due to exhaustion from the fight. Arc then pat Dino on the head and returned him to his Pokeball. Turning to face Koga, Arc whistled loudly. At that moment, Neeko jumped over Arc and landed on the field ready to face Koga's Toxicroak.

"Arc! Dino was your most powerful Pokémon and he was taken out with one hit. How the hell is Neeko going to beat Toxicroak?" Lily asked.

"Dino was also confused and had a lot of self-inflicted damage from his battle with Golbat. You're right in saying that Neeko isn't my most powerful Pokémon, but our bond is unwavering even in the most difficult of situations. I believe in his abilities just as he trusts my judgment and together there is nothing we can't accomplish."

Lily sat their shocked by Arc's speech. She knew that Arc was bold and passionate, but she never knew that he could say things that were indirectly romantic as well. Flushed red, she put her head down enough that she could continue to watch the battle, but also hide her face from Arc. Kappa and Snow Storm then started to snicker. They knew at this point that the two were crushing on each other, but they couldn't figure out why they were hiding it.

"Neeko use Flamethrower!"

Neeko opened his mouth and spewed a torrential beam of fire at Toxicroak, but he missed. Dodging gracefully, Toxicroak moved with lightning speed hitting Neeko repeatedly square in the gut. Surprised by its sudden burst in speed, Arc looked up the move in his Pokedex.

"Bullet Punch, A fast paced move where the user strikes the target with tough punches as fast as bullets."

Doubling over from the pain, Neeko spat and then glared at Toxicroak. Arc ordered him to counter using Slash attack. Extending his claws, Neeko assaulted Toxicroak attempting to inflict as many deep scratches as he could. Unfortunately Toxicroak was too fast and dodged every one of Neeko's attacks. It then followed up with Ice Punch hitting Neeko in the jaw and freezing him solid.

"Neeko!" Arc shouted hoping that he could hear his voice.

At that very moment Arc remembered his first battle with his dad and how it ended with Neeko frozen in ice. Unable to bear the thought of Neeko losing like that again Arc tried his best to reach Neeko, but he failed to move being completely frozen solid from. Arc fell to his knees thinking that he lost, but just as he was about to give up a faint glow engulfed the entire field. He heard a faint gasp from everyone in the arena.

"Arc look!" Lily shouted pointing at Neeko.

Arc looked up at Neeko and gasped himself. Neeko was somehow free of the ice and his shape rippled and dissolved in a blue and white aura. He then started growing taller and sprouted a set of impressive wings. The single horn on his head split in two and his snout grew longer. Finally the aura vanished and Neeko roared triumphantly showing the whole room his new found strength.

"Holy shit! Neeko, you have finally evolved into a Charizard" Arc said, tears streaming from his eyes.

The wait was finally over. After all of their hard work, Neeko has finally discovered his true power. Still shaking from the whole ordeal, Arc pulled out his Pokedex and looked Neeko up.

"Charizard, the Flame Pokémon. Charizard's powerful flame can melt absolutely anything. When expelling a blast of superhot fire, the red flame at the tip of its tail burns more intensely."

Unable to contain his excitement anymore, Arc called for a Slash attack. Neeko shot straight into the air, but he fell just as quickly and landed with a solid thump. Everyone watched Neeko, baffled by the fact that he couldn't get airborne. Arc swore to himself thinking "_Son of a fucking bitch! Neeko finally evolves into Charizard, but now he can't fly_". Finally giving up the idea of flying, Neeko charged Toxicroak and tried using Slash attack once more. As he got closer his paw caught fire and Neeko struck Toxicroak square in the gut with a flaming fist. Toxicroak went sailing through the air and landed on the opposite side of the field burned by the attack, but unwilling to give up.

"Well it looks like your Charizard learned Fire Punch, but it's time to finish this. Toxicroak use Close Combat" Koga stated with a stern voice.

It was obvious that Koga was getting a little nervous from the fight. He had the upper hand up until this point, but now the tide has shifted in Arc's favor. Toxicroak closed in on Neeko and started punching and kicking with fluid motions. Hit after hit, Neeko was being pummeled by its relentless attack.

"Use Fire Punch!"

Neeko found the opening he was looking for and grabbed Toxicroak's arm. Grinning menacingly, Neeko then socked Toxicroak in its throat sack causing it to fly across the field and into one of the pillars. It laid there unconscious and unable to get up.

"Toxicroak is unable to battle! The match goes to Charizard, and the winner of this gym battle is Arc the challenger!" Aya shouts.

Excited by his victory, Arc ran out on the field and tackled Neeko. Both Mimzy and Dino let themselves out of their Pokeballs and gave Arc a group hug. Koga then approached Arc holding a scroll in his right hand.

"Congratulations Arc, you have beaten me. This Soul Badge rightfully belongs to you" Koga said opening the scroll which contained a pink heart shaped badge.

Taking the badge off of the scroll, Arc thanked Koga for an excellent match. He then pinned the badge on his collar admiring it along with his other badges. Lily shot from her seat and tackled Arc with a hug knocking him to the ground. Arc flushed red seeing that Koga and Aya were watching them on the ground. He pleaded with her to get off of him, and was finally able to extricate himself from her grip. Jumping back on his feet, Arc helped Lily back up and returned Dino and Mimzy to their Pokeballs. They then said their goodbyes and headed out the door which went right outside bypassing the maze of doors and rooms completely. Once they were outside, Lily stopped Arc by grabbing his hand. Once again he flushed red at her touch.

"Hey Arc, since Poison types can have nasty effects on Pokémon, why don't we spend the rest of the day at the Pokémon Center. We can leave for Celadon City in the morning." Lily stated.

"Why do you want to wait until morning? I was hoping we could leave as soon… Ah! Hey Neeko! What are you doing?!"

Neeko snuck up behind Arc and pushed him closer to Lily using his tail. Arc wanted to continue, but he was outnumbered and his Pokémon could use the time to recover. Finally agreeing, Arc found himself being dragged back to the Pokémon Center by Lily.

They made it back to the Pokémon Center within the hour and they both left their Pokémon with Nurse Joy. Even though Lily didn't battle, she knew that they were due for a checkup. Arc then went over and found the new issue of Trainer's Weekly sitting on one of the tables. Shifting through the contents of the magazine, Arc called Lily over.

"Hey Lily, have you ever heard of a place called the Safari Zone?"

"Of course I have. I caught Iceberg in the Safari Zone when she was just a Seel." Lily replied.

"Well I was thinking that maybe tomorrow, we can take a trip to the Safari Zone that's near here. According to this article, there is supposedly a rare Pokémon that's lurking around in the waters of the Safari Zone." Arc suggested.

Lily seemed delighted by the idea. It's been awhile since she went to a Safari Zone, and it was time that she could spend alone with Arc. Mutually agreeing to the idea, Arc then continued reading while Lily went to check on the Pokémon. As she walked, she thought to herself "_Tomorrow will be the day_."

* * *

><p><strong>Wow that was exciting! <strong>

**1. Neeko has finally evolved into Charizard, and he also learned Fire Punch. **

**2. Arc won his fourth Kanto Gym Badge**

**3. now they will be headed for the Safari Zone**

**Arc**

**(Neeko) Charizard: Flamethrower, Fire Punch, Dragon Rage, Smokescreen**

**(Snow Storm) Butterfree: Psybeam, Silver Wind, Sleep Powder, Double Team**

**(Dino) Salamence: Flamethrower, Hydro Pump, Dragon Dance, Dragon Claw**

**(Mimzy) Ponyta: Double Kick, Flame Charge, Agility**

**Lily**

**(Kappa) Totodile: Aqua Tail, Water Gun**

**(Smoke) Quilava: Flame Wheel**

**(Iceberg) Dewgong**

**(Waru) Krookodile**

**(Dusky) Mightyena: Dark Pulse, Crunch**

**(Stratus) Altaria**


	18. Chapter 18

**Well Arceus has finally released me back to the normal world which means... Chapter 18 has finally arrived. Hope you enjoy it.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 18: A Real Earthshaker!<strong>

The following morning, Arc and Lily were up bright and early, but not all was normal. Lily was acting rather fidgety, as if she was hiding something from him. At first he tried to get her to tell what was on her mind, but she kept saying that it was nothing. After a while he gave up asking and dropped the topic completely. Relieved, Lily relaxed a bit knowing that she was able to throw Arc off her trail and started acting normal again.

About an hour after breakfast, the group left the Pokémon Center and headed east towards the Safari Zone. Kappa decided that he wanted to lead the group and jumped off Lily's shoulder. He then charged forward intent on being the first one there. Neeko then jumped in the air flying fast and low. His competitive nature ended up getting the better of him and he wasn't going to let Kappa win this little competition.

"Don't wander too far Kappa!" Lily shouted.

"He'll be fine. Neeko may be competitive, but he won't let Kappa out of his sight" Arc assured.

Neeko was the first to arrive at the cabin which was the office for the Safari Zone, roaring triumphantly as he landed. He then started showing off, doing loops and dives, but stopped when he saw Arc laughing at him.

"Hey Neeko, look behind you!" he laughed practically convulsing with mirth.

Neeko swung around and went slack-jaw for Snow Storm was already sitting on the porch. She had a smug look on her face and waved arrogantly at Neeko.

"While you were fooling around with Kappa, Snow Storm flew ahead of you" Lily laughed as well.

Neeko snorted and took to the sky, too embarrassed to accept defeat. Arc and Lily then walked up to the cabin and knocked on the door. At first no one answered and all they heard was the sound of the morning breeze. Then they heard two faint clicking sounds and the door swung wide open revealing an older gentleman aiming a pair of handguns at Arc and Lily. Immediately their hands shot up on the air and Arc whistled for Neeko and Snow Storm.

"What do you want!" the old man shouted.

"Well… How about lowering the weapons for one, and we would like to go in the Safari Zone" Lily squeaked.

The man then holstered his weapons and invited them inside. Arc sighed and walked inside the cabin thinking "_and I thought Clif was tense_". Lily trotted after Arc glaring at the old man as she passed him. Arc then went to the counter and registered himself and Lily to enter the Safari Zone. The old man then handed each of them a bucket of Pokeballs and a fishing rod.

"I apologize for my rude actions earlier. My name is Kaiser and I am the warden here at the Safari Zone" The warden said.

Arc introduced himself and Lily to Kaiser and thanked him before stepping out the door and into the Safari Zone. Lily made sure that they were a fair distance away from the cabin before speaking again.

"Well he was frightening" She remarked.

"He's just doing his job Lily. Cool your jets" Arc said nonchalantly.

"Cool my jets! Arc, he had a gun pointed at us!" Lily raved pointing back at the cabin.

Arc sighed and said nothing more on the matter. He knew that Lily was all bent out of shape on the issue, and the best thing he could do was let her win. Flying overhead, Neeko and Snow Storm spotted a nice quiet place next to a lake that the group could spend the day. Happy with the location, Arc decided to try his hand at fishing. He read that there was an exotic Water type Pokémon around here and he was determined to catch it. An hour soon passed, then two, but the elusive Pokémon refused to show itself. Arc was totally disappointed however because he was reeling in a ton of Water types. At first it was only a few Magikarp. Then he reeled in a Goldeen and Seeking. After that he managed to hook a very perturbed Gyarados which ended up scaring the group out of their wits.

The day wore on with no sign of the Pokémon making an appearance. Getting bored, Lily told Arc that she was going to go for a stroll with Kappa around the lake. He acknowledged her, but it was obvious that his focus was on the water.

"I know Arc is determined to catch that Pokémon, but he needs to give it up sooner or later. I mean what are the chances he will actually find it, let alone catch it." She said to Kappa.

As the two walked around the lake, an ominous figure poked its head out of the water and watched them. It then submerged and started to follow Lily and Kappa. Kappa was the first to notice that something was amiss and looked behind him to see a large shadow keeping pace with them. Turning to face the water, he growled and glared at the shadow that lurked just below the surface.

"Kappa will you stop it. There is nothi…. AHHHHH! Help me!"

Suddenly the shadow moved and breached out of the water tackling Lily to the ground. It then wrapped one of its bulky arms around Lily's midsection, dragging her back into the water.

"Kappa, go and get Arc! Hurry!" Lily shouted before disappearing under the waves.

Kappa then took off back the way they came intent on getting Arc. Unable to bear the thought of losing his beloved trainer, Kappa leaped into the water and swam as fast as he could to where Arc was. Finally making it back, Kappa then bit down on Arc's fishing line, making him believe that he just got a bite.

"Ha. Now I have you. Neeko get ready, this might be it… Kappa! What the hell are you doing?" Arc shouted reeling in Kappa.

Kappa then spat the fishing lure out and pointed towards the far side of the lake. Desperate to get Arc to move, he ran around Arc and started pushing him to move forward. Arc's head was spinning, unable to figure out what Kappa was up to or what he wanted. Neeko and Snow Storm immediately got it though and acted just as desperate as Kappa, but Arc still wasn't getting the message. Frustrated, Kappa then acted out what happened.

"You're saying Lily was kidnapped by a Pokémon?!" Arc shouted.

Kappa nodded and jumped back in the water speeding towards the far side of the lake. Once again, Arc's passion was ignited and he threw a Pokeball releasing Mimzy. Using the halter that she had when he found her and a rope, Arc fashioned a set of makeshift reins and jumped on Mimzy's back. Spurring her into a gallop, Arc raced to her aid with Kappa leading the way.

"Neeko! You and Snow Storm fly ahead and see if you can spot her. Mimzy and I will scan the coast!"

Neeko and Snow Storm then separated and searched in different directions. Arc continued to ride along the lakeside at a frenzied pace, but unfortunately since this was his first time riding a Ponyta, he was unbalanced and dug his heels into Mimzy's side desperate to hold on. Feeling the burn of Arc's heels in her side, Mimzy jumped almost throwing Arc off her back. She whinnied in pain telling Arc that he was hurting her. He immediately let off the pressure and held on with his upper legs. As they scanned the water's surface, Arc thought to himself "_Don't worry Lily. I'll find you_". Suddenly, Arc heard a thunderous roar and looked up finding that Neeko has returned from his search.

"Did you find her Neeko?" He asked pulling back on Mimzy's reins.

Neeko shook his head and flew alongside Arc as they continued their search. Snow Storm returned a few minutes later, but she was also empty handed. They searched about halfway around the lake, when they noticed that there was a monstrous shadow beneath the surface. It stood perfectly still, but it was obvious that there was indeed something sitting underwater.

"Whatever that thing is, I bet it's the cause of this huge mess! Neeko use Flamethrower and force it to the surface!"

Neeko fired a powerful Flamethrower attack causing the water to boil and steam to roll off the surface. As the steam cleared, the shadow wasn't there anymore, but it was fleeing towards the forest on the northern part of the lake.

Arc swore and spurred Mimzy forward. He chased the creature through the forest and to a clearing where it became fully visible. Arc gasped at the Pokémon he beheld in front of him. The Pokémon had thick arms, short stout legs, and two head crests. It was completely blue, with orange accents to the sides of its face and on its arms. Arc pulled out his Pokedex and identified it.

"Swampert, the Mud Fish Pokémon and the evolved form of Marshtomp. It's able to easily drag large stones weighing over 1 ton. It is also able to see through cloudy waters and detect approaching storms with its fin."

Looking behind Swampert, Arc spotted Lily lying on the ground unconscious. Kappa rushed to her aid, but was stopped when the Swampert unleashed a powerful attack. Slamming its fist on the ground, Swampert caused pillars of water to rush towards Kappa. When the pillars reached him, they formed a ring of pillars and then merged into one giant water pillar completely consuming Kappa. As the pillar evaporated, he fell backwards knocked out.

"What the hell was that move!" Arc shouted and then looked it up.

He learned that the move was called Water Pledge, and it apparently doubles in power when used along with its sister moves Grass Pledge or Fire Pledge. Quickly pulling Kappa out of the Swampert's reach, Snow Storm dodged its Ice Punch attack by spinning gracefully. Arc acted quickly and called for Dino to join the match. All four of Arc's Pokémon surrounded the Swampert in an attempt to keep it still so Arc could reach Lily.

Neeko was the first to attack Swampert and tried using Fire Punch. Dodging by a hair's breadth, Swampert rolled out of the way and retaliated with Ice Punch hitting Neeko in the ribs and sending him flying into a tree. Dino took advantage of the distraction Neeko made and used Dragon Claw. Swampert was ready for it though and used a double Ice Punch once more and slammed his fists down on Dino's back knocking him out cold. As his Pokémon attempted to neutralize the Swampert, Arc ran to grab Lily. She was still unconscious, but she looked uninjured as far as Arc could tell.

"Lily! Wake up! Come on, you need to snap out of it" he pleaded.

Swampert whirled around and used Water Pledge at Arc. He managed to grab and throw one of Lily's Pokeballs off her belt as he dodged the attack. The Pokeball snapped open revealing Waru, her Krookodile. Unaware of the situation, Waru looked around frantically and saw the Swampert tower over him. Immediately, Waru cowered putting his hands over his face to hide the Swampert from view. Swampert then took advantage of his hesitation slamming his foot on the ground unleashing a mighty Earthquake attack. Earthquake reverberated throughout the entire field, shaking up any Pokémon that could feel it. Mimzy felt it the most, buckling at the knees she fell to the ground.

"Mimzy! Are you alright?!... Waru use Crunch!" Arc shouted.

Mimzy then jumped back to her feet and used Flame Charge hitting Swampert right in the chest. Waru on the other hand, didn't attack like Arc thought he would, but actually took off in the other direction and hid behind a tree. Arc sighed and focused on his own Pokémon instead.

"Snow Storm use Sleep Powder"

Snow Storm flapped her wings vigorously spreading the powder all over the place, but Swampert was ready for it and used Whirlpool to counter the attack. Swampert then jumped in the whirlpool and used Ice Punch to send Snow Storm flying. Arc watched in amazement as this rogue Pokémon dispatch each of his Pokémon like it was nothing.

"It's already taken out three of my Pokémon and the only one who can fricking stand, let alone continue is Mimzy. I guess I have to go for broke and use the only attack that can possibly take that son of a bitch down in one hit… Mimzy use Horn Drill attack" Arc shouted with every ounce of his being.

Mimzy's eyes snapped wide open and she charged straight for Swampert. As she charged, a glowing white horn made of pure energy formed on her head and started to spin rapidly. She closed in on Swampert, but the move didn't connect. Swampert waited until the last moment and grabbed Mimzy by the shoulders, stopping her cold. Arc didn't wait for the stalemate to end however, and called for Flame Charge. While still using Horn Drill, Mimzy burst into flames and overcame Swampert hitting it in the chest and knocking it out cold. Arc knew that this was his best chance, and threw the only Safari ball he brought with him. Hitting the unconscious Swampert on the shoulder, the Safari ball rattled several times before flashing.

Not even taking the time to celebrate his capture, Arc put Lily who was still unconscious on Mimzy's back and returned the rest of the Pokémon back to their respective Pokeballs. He even returned Kappa, Neeko, and Snow Storm so he could get them help quickly. Arc then grabbed the Safari ball containing his new Swampert and headed back to where he left the rods and buckets of Safari balls. When he arrived, the only thing he could find was the buckets and the rods. All of the Safari balls were missing, until he saw one float by him in the water. Looking out, Arc saw a large group of Water type Pokémon had stolen the Safari balls. Never seeing them before, Arc looked them up in the Pokedex.

"Quagsire, the Water Fish Pokémon. Quagsire makes its home in clean freshwater lakes. It's covered by a slippery layer of skin, making this Pokémon especially difficult to handle. It also has a fondness for round objects"

Arc sighed and quickly returned what was left of the gear before taking off for the Pokémon Center.

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Slowly coming to, Lily's eye fluttered open. Looking around, she found herself lying in a bed at the Pokémon Center they were at earlier. She then felt a hand, and looked down to see Arc sleeping partially on the bed and partially on the chair he pulled up next to the bed. Nurse Joy then entered the room and saw that Lily was finally awake.

"Oh good you're awake" she said.

"How long was I out? Last thing I remember, I was being dragged through the water by some monstrous Pokémon" Lily said feeling a good size bump on the back of her head.

"You have been unconscious for most of the day actually. During that time however, this young man never left your side once. I even had to bring his Pokémon here once I was done caring for their injuries" Nurse Joy commented before leaving the room.

Lily then looked at the clock and realized that it was four in the morning. "_That means Arc hasn't left my side for at least ten hours_!" she thought to herself. Thinking about what happened at the Safari Zone, Lily gasped at the thought of what Arc possibly did to protect her from whatever it was that attacked her. She knew that Kappa went to get him, but for him to also stop his little hunt, find her, save her, and get her back to the Pokémon Center by himself left Lily breathing heavily. She then looked at him again and ran her fingers through his hair waking him up.

"Oh good your awake. You okay Lily?" Arc said while holding her hand.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What happened back at the Safari Zone?"

"You were attacked by a Swampert. Apparently, that was the rare Pokémon lurking in the Safari Zone, and I was able to catch it. His name is Earthshaker" Arc replied.

"Wow. How did you manage to find me?" Lily asked

Arc then explained everything that happened after Kappa found him. After he finished, he then asked about Waru's odd behavior. For the life of him, Arc could not figure out why Waru would hide when his own trainer was in peril.

"Waru has some self-esteem issues. He was abandoned as a Sandile when I found him. Unless he is constantly praised for his actions, Waru begins to doubt himself and often cowers in tough situations… Um Arc. I have something I want to tell you" Lily explained.

Lily then made a motion for Arc to come closer. Obviously whatever it was she wanted to tell him was either very important or very secret. Leaning over the bed, she did something that Arc never expected. As he leaned in, Lily put her hand on his cheek and gave him a soft kiss.

"Thank you Arc."

* * *

><p><strong>Arc you sly dog. Playing the classic knight in shining armor routine has now landed you the catch of the day. Now how will their relationship grow?<strong>

**Arc**

**(Neeko) Charizard: Flamethrower, Fire Punch, Dragon Rage, Smokescreen**

**(Snow Storm) Butterfree: Psybeam, Silver Wind, Sleep Powder, Double Team**

**(Dino) Salamence: Flamethrower, Hydro Pump, Dragon Dance, Dragon Claw**

**(Mimzy) Ponyta: Double Kick, Flame Charge, Agility, Horn Drill**

**(Earthshaker) Swampert: Whirlpool, Ice Punch, Earthquake, Water Pledge**

**Lily**

**(Kappa) Totodile: Aqua Tail, Water Gun**

**(Smoke) Quilava: Flame Wheel**

**(Iceberg) Dewgong**

**(Waru) Krookodile: Crunch**

**(Dusky) Mightyena: Dark Pulse, Crunch**

**(Stratus) Altaria**


End file.
